50 Maloti - Moshoeshoe II Commonwealth Membership

Lesotho joined the Commonwealth in 1966 upon independence from Britain, but this 1981 issue commemorates the kingdom's continued membership during a period of acute political instability — Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan had suspended the constitution and ruled by decree since nullifying the 1970 elections, which his Basotho National Party had lost to Moshoeshoe II's preferred candidates. The king himself had been forced into brief exile following that constitutional crisis.

Moshoeshoe II remained a largely ceremonial figure through the 1970s and into the 1980s, his authority systematically curtailed by Jonathan's government.