Dominican Republic KM#89 5 Pesos 2002–2020 UNC—Bimetallic—Sánchez

A workhorse of Caribbean commerce and a quiet tribute to one of the Dominican Republic's most consequential founding fathers, this bimetallic 5 Pesos coin circulated for nearly two decades across three mints on two continents — a small coin with a surprisingly global biography.

Obverse

• Colors: golden brass outer ring; silver-toned stainless steel center
• Outer ring: country name REPUBLICA DOMINICANA and year of issue
• Inner ring: coat of arms of the Dominican Republic
• Denomination: 5 PESOS inscribed below the coat of arms
• Motto: DIOS PATRIA LIBERTAD (God, Fatherland, Liberty) on the shield

Reverse

• Colors: silver-toned stainless steel center; golden brass outer ring
• Portrait of Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, one of the three founding fathers of the Dominican Republic
• Name SANCHEZ inscribed below the portrait
• Issuer legend above: BANCO CENTRAL DE REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
• Year of issue below

Other Characteristics

• Varieties: 2008 non-magnetic (N#220030); 2002–2020 magnetic — this coin. Key differences on the reverse: larger hole in the "P" of PESOS; dots closer to lettering; wider date; shorter shield with fewer bars on the coat of arms.
• Catalog numbers: KM#89; Schön#149; Numista N#2504
• Composition: Bimetallic — stainless steel center in brass ring
• Weight: 6.0 g
• Diameter: 23 mm
• Thickness: 2.15 mm
• Shape: Round
• Edge: 5 reeded segments
• Orientation: Coin alignment ↑↓
• Issuing entity: Banco Central de la República Dominicana
• Mints: Royal Canadian Mint (Winnipeg); Mint of Poland (Mennica Polska, Warsaw); Royal Mint of Madrid (Real Casa de la Moneda)
• Years issued: 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2020
• Demonetized: No — Dominican Peso remains legal tender
• Currency: Peso Dominicano (DOP)
• Official language: Spanish

About the Dominican Republic

• Origin of name: From Santo Domingo, the capital, named after Saint Dominic of Guzmán by Spanish colonizers in 1496 — making it the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in the Americas
• Capital: Santo Domingo (city pop. ~1.1 million; metro pop. ~3.3 million)
  • Origin of name: Named for Saint Dominic (Domingo in Spanish), founder of the Dominican Order, by Bartholomew Columbus in 1496
• Population: ~11.3 million (UN 2024) — comparable to Ohio or Portugal
• Area: 48,671 km² (18,792 mi²) — slightly larger than Vermont and New Hampshire combined; similar to Slovakia
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$24,000 (IMF 2024) — one of the highest in the Caribbean
• Main exports: Gold, medical instruments, cigars, cocoa, bananas, electrical equipment
• Borders: Haiti (west); Atlantic Ocean (north); Caribbean Sea (south and east) — shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti
• Official/spoken language: Spanish
• Ethnicities: Multiracial/Mixed (~70%); Afro-Dominican (~18%); White Dominican (~12%)
• Memberships: United Nations (1945, founding member); OAS (1948, founding member); CARICOM (observer); WTO (1995); CAFTA-DR (2007)
• Sovereignty:
  • Taíno indigenous peoples — inhabited Hispaniola for centuries before European contact
  • Spanish colony (1496–1795) — first permanent European settlement in the Americas; Columbus's brother founded Santo Domingo
  • French control (1795–1809) — ceded by Spain via Treaty of Basel
  • Spanish restoration (1809–1821)
  • Haitian unification (1822–1844) — Haiti occupied and unified the island
  • Independence (1844) — declared by the Trinitaria movement; Sánchez, Duarte, and Mella are the three founding fathers
  • Spanish annexation (1861–1865) — briefly re-annexed; reversed by the War of Restoration
  • US occupation (1916–1924)
  • Trujillo dictatorship (1930–1961) — one of the longest and most brutal dictatorships in Latin American history
  • Fourth Republic (1966–present) — this coin issued during this period

Dominican Republic Unfiltered

• The Dominican Republic is the most visited country in the Caribbean, drawing over 10 million tourists annually — yet most visitors never leave the resort zones and see almost none of the country
• It is the only country in the world with a Bible on its flag
• The DR produces more Major League Baseball players per capita than any other country on Earth — over 100 active MLB players at any given time
• Dictator Rafael Trujillo renamed the capital city Ciudad Trujillo after himself; it was renamed back to Santo Domingo after his assassination in 1961
• The country shares Hispaniola with Haiti — the two nations have dramatically different deforestation rates, visible from satellite: the Dominican side is green, the Haitian side is largely bare
• The DR has the largest gold mine in Latin America (Pueblo Viejo), operated by Barrick Gold
• Amber from the Dominican Republic is among the most scientifically valuable in the world — it frequently contains perfectly preserved prehistoric insects, some 15–45 million years old

The Man on the Coin: Francisco del Rosario Sánchez

Francisco del Rosario Sánchez was not the most famous of the Dominican founding fathers — that title belongs to Juan Pablo Duarte — but he may have been the most indispensable. When Duarte was exiled by political rivals in 1843, it was Sánchez who held the independence movement together. On February 27, 1844, it was Sánchez who raised the Dominican flag at the Puerta del Conde gate in Santo Domingo, declaring independence from Haiti. He was 28 years old.

Sánchez spent the rest of his life fighting for Dominican sovereignty — against Haitian reconquest, against Spanish re-annexation, and against the political factions that repeatedly exiled him. He was captured by Spanish forces in 1861 and executed by firing squad. He was 45. His face on this coin is a reminder that republics are not founded by committees — they are founded by people willing to die for an idea.

Three Mints, One Coin

Few circulation coins of this denomination travel as far as this one did before reaching your hands. The KM#89 5 Pesos was struck at the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg, the Mint of Poland in Warsaw, and the Royal Mint of Madrid — three of the world's most respected minting facilities, across three countries, over nearly two decades. The 2002 issue alone had a mintage of 40 million pieces. The 2017 issue, struck in Madrid, had its mintage folded into KM#125. Each year and mint carries its own subtle story.

Magnetic or Not? It Matters.

The 2008 issue exists in two distinct varieties — magnetic and non-magnetic — with differences subtle enough that Numista users have documented them in forensic detail. The magnetic coin (this listing) has a larger hole in the "P" of PESOS, a wider date, a shorter shield, and dots positioned closer to the lettering on the reverse. Without a magnet, you can still tell them apart — but you have to know what to look for. That's the kind of detail that separates a casual accumulator from a serious collector.

Own this coin and own a piece of Caribbean numismatic history — a bimetallic workhorse that crossed three continents in production and carries the face of a man who changed the course of a nation.