5 Tambala magnetic

The magnetic 9.2a variety emerged when Malawi switched from the copper-nickel alloy of earlier Tambala issues to nickel-clad steel — a cost-cutting measure common across sub-Saharan mints in the late 1980s as base metal prices and foreign currency shortages made older alloys increasingly impractical. The Reserve Bank made the change without altering the design, leaving the composition shift as the sole distinguishing feature between the two types.

KM#9.2a is distinguished from its non-magnetic predecessor by the magnet test alone.