Lesotho's decimal coinage series was introduced in 1966 alongside independence from Britain, but the specific brass-plated steel transition for smaller denominations came as the Central Bank responded to rising metal costs that made solid alloy coins economically impractical. Letsie III's long tenure — interrupted briefly between 1990 and 1995 when his father Moshoeshoe II was reinstated — accounts for the extended date range on this type.
The 1995 restoration of Letsie III followed a negotiated abdication rather than a conventional succession.
Lesotho's decimal coinage series was introduced in 1966 alongside independence from Britain, but the specific brass-plated steel transition for smaller denominations came as the Central Bank responded to rising metal costs that made solid alloy coins economically impractical. Letsie III's long tenure — interrupted briefly between 1990 and 1995 when his father Moshoeshoe II was reinstated — accounts for the extended date range on this type.
The 1995 restoration of Letsie III followed a negotiated abdication rather than a conventional succession.