50 Pul - Muhammed Zahir Shah large type

Afghanistan's 1951 coinage came during a period of cautious modernization under Zahir Shah, who had been effectively guided by a succession of prime ministerial relatives since taking the throne in 1933. The "large type" designation in KM#942.2 distinguishes this from a concurrent smaller-diameter issue — two variants circulating simultaneously, a not uncommon occurrence when Kabul's mint relied on outside striking facilities with inconsistent tooling specifications.

Da Afghanistan Bank had only been established in 1939, and coinage policy through the early 1950s remained tightly tied to managing the afghani's exchange stability against the rupee.