45 Piastres - George V 50 Years of Cyprus under British Rule

Issued to mark the half-century since Britain assumed administration of Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, this was the first commemorative coin struck for the island under British rule. The 45-piastre denomination was chosen specifically for the occasion — it had no prior existence in the Cypriot currency system and was never struck again — making the coin an administrative curiosity as much as a numismatic one.

The 1878 handover itself was a side deal struck at the Congress of Berlin, with Britain gaining control in exchange for guaranteeing Ottoman territory against Russia. Cyprus remained technically Ottoman sovereign territory, with Britain paying annual tribute to Constantinople, until 1914 when the island was formally annexed following the Ottoman entry into World War I.