50 Cents

Singapore's shift to nickel plated steel for this denomination — replacing the earlier cupronickel composition — was driven by rising base metal costs that made the older alloy increasingly uneconomical to strike in volume. The transition began with the third series coins introduced in 2013, issued under the Monetary Authority of Singapore rather than the Board of Commissioners of Currency, which had been dissolved and absorbed in 2002.

KM#348 is a high-circulation workhorse denomination, and plating wear on heavily used examples can expose the steel substrate at contact points.