Once when rummaging through a set of old coins, I found a few 5 cent coins that I had almost forgotten about. These were not just the ordinary 5 cent coins limited circulation coins minted in 1971, that were larger than the 5 cent coins in circulation then, but much lighter as they were made of aluminium alloy (as opposed to the smaller cupro-nickel coins). The coins were ones issued in February 1972 in conjunction with Singapore’s participation in the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Educational Coin Programme.
I remember that when the coins were first issued, many of the older folk thought that these were counterfeit coins as one of the ways to detect a counterfeit coin was how light they felt compared to the genuine coins. Counterfeiting of coins was also quite common then. The coin weighed 1.26 grammes (although they were a larger 21.23mm in diameter), as opposed to the smaller cupro-nickel coins (1.41 g at 16.26 mm diameter) that were in circulation then.
The coin features a reverse side that is similar in design to the coins in circulation then, with a pomfret shown on the obverse with the words “INCREASE PRODUCTION” and “MORE FOOD FROM THE SEA” at the edges. The attached photograph shows the aluminium alloy 5 cent coins in between the old 5 cent coins (on the left) and the ones that are currently in circulation (on the right).
When the FAO coins were issued, many of my schoolmates collected them instead of using them. I must have held on to a few myself which is why I still have a few of them around.
