Mauritius gained independence from Britain in 1968, but the Royal Mint continued striking this bronze 2-cent piece bearing the first Machin-era portrait through 1978 — a full decade after the island became a sovereign republic, making the later dates a quiet anomaly of post-colonial minting inertia. The transition to a new coinage series was unhurried; the old bronze simply kept circulating.
Mauritius gained independence from Britain in 1968, but the Royal Mint continued striking this bronze 2-cent piece bearing the first Machin-era portrait through 1978 — a full decade after the island became a sovereign republic, making the later dates a quiet anomaly of post-colonial minting inertia. The transition to a new coinage series was unhurried; the old bronze simply kept circulating.