10 Cents - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait

The Solomon Islands gained independence from Britain in 1978, meaning coins dated 1977 were struck just before sovereignty and those from 1978 onward under a new national authority — yet the second portrait of Elizabeth II continued uninterrupted across that political transition, the effigy unchanged as if the transfer of power had not occurred. Arnold Machin's portrait, used here, was the same design circulating across dozens of Commonwealth territories simultaneously.

KM#4 is a short series, discontinued after 1983 when the third portrait coinage replaced it across the denomination range.