1 Rupee - Elizabeth II

Ceylon's copper-nickel rupee series of this period was produced against a backdrop of sharp political turbulence — the government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the world's first elected female head of government, was nationalizing key industries and steering the island toward a republican constitution that would ultimately sever ties with the Crown entirely. The 1972 transition to the Republic of Sri Lanka rendered this Elizabeth II coinage obsolete almost immediately, cutting short what had been a nine-year run.

KM#133 pieces from the early dates in this range tend to surface in higher circulated grades than the later ones, simply because the 1970–71 strikes had less time in circulation before demonetization.