2 1/2 Shillings - Elizabeth II 1st portrait

South Africa's shift to .500 fine silver for this series — down from the .800 fineness used before World War II — reflected the postwar strain on the country's metal allocation, even as the nation sat atop some of the world's largest silver-producing regions. The Pretoria Mint struck these throughout the early Union period under increasingly fraught political circumstances: the National Party had taken power in 1948 and was dismantling the constitutional framework that had tied South Africa to the Crown.

Elizabeth II's first portrait by Mary Gillick appeared on South African coinage only briefly before the republic referendum of 1960 ended the series entirely. The 1960 date is the final issue before South Africa's withdrawal from the Commonwealth.