1 Cent - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait, Silver Proof Issue

Fiji's 1976 proof issues were struck to coincide with the country's first decade of independence, granted in 1970 after nearly a century of British colonial administration. The Reserve Bank commissioned sterling silver proof sets primarily for the collector market, as circulation coinage of this period was cupro-nickel. The 2nd portrait of Elizabeth II — Arnold Machin's effigy, first introduced on Commonwealth coinage in 1968 — was still relatively recent at this date.

KM#27a distinguishes this silver proof from its circulation counterpart, KM#27.