Struck in the first year of Amanullah Khan's reign, immediately following the assassination of his father Habibullah in February 1919. Amanullah seized the throne before any formal succession could be arranged, declared full independence from British influence, and launched the Third Anglo-Afghan War within months. This coin was issued into that atmosphere of deliberate rupture — a new king asserting fiscal as well as political authority almost simultaneously.
The 3 Shahi denomination, equating to 15 Paisa, reflects the hybrid accounting system then current in Afghan commerce, where older Shahi-based reckoning persisted alongside decimal Paisa values.
Struck in the first year of Amanullah Khan's reign, immediately following the assassination of his father Habibullah in February 1919. Amanullah seized the throne before any formal succession could be arranged, declared full independence from British influence, and launched the Third Anglo-Afghan War within months. This coin was issued into that atmosphere of deliberate rupture — a new king asserting fiscal as well as political authority almost simultaneously.
The 3 Shahi denomination, equating to 15 Paisa, reflects the hybrid accounting system then current in Afghan commerce, where older Shahi-based reckoning persisted alongside decimal Paisa values.