5 Thebe

Botswana's thebe coinage takes its name from the Setswana word for "shield," introduced at independence from the pula monetary system launched in 1976 when the country severed its longstanding currency tie to the South African rand. The nickel clad steel composition adopted for this denomination replaced an earlier brass issue, a cost-driven decision common across southern African minting programs during the commodity price shifts of the late 1990s and 2000s.