1 Shilling - Elizabeth II 1st portrait

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland existed for only a decade — 1953 to 1963 — before African nationalist pressure and British reluctance to entrench white minority rule forced its dissolution. This shilling belongs to the federation's earliest coinage, issued just two years after the political union was formed. The Royal Mint struck these pieces in London; the federation never operated its own mint facility.

Effigy is Mary Gillick's first portrait of Elizabeth II, the same used across sterling-area territories from 1953 onward before being replaced later in the decade.