50 Pul - Muhammed Zahir Shah

Afghanistan's shift to nickel-clad steel for this issue reflected the chronic shortage of raw nickel following World War II, a problem that pushed dozens of smaller economies toward clad compositions through the early 1950s. Zahir Shah's government had been steadily modernizing the Afghan monetary system since the 1930s, partly through agreements with foreign mints — these pieces were struck at the Royal Mint in London.

KM#946 is occasionally found with weak strikes around the central devices, a known consequence of the clad planchet stock sourced during this period rather than any die deficiency.