1 Rupee - Elizabeth II 1st portrait

The transition from silver to copper-nickel for this denomination had already occurred under George VI, so by the time Elizabeth II's portrait replaced her father's, the coin was simply updated rather than redesigned from scratch. This first portrait — the young-queen effigy by Mary Gillick — was used across dozens of Commonwealth territories simultaneously, making it one of the most widely reproduced coin portraits of the twentieth century.

The issuing territory and near-identical span of dates to several neighboring Commonwealth rupee series makes attribution occasionally contentious without the reverse in hand.