50 Rupees 50 Years of Independence

Pakistan's 50th independence anniversary in 1997 fell during a particularly fraught political moment — Nawaz Sharif had just returned to power after Benazir Bhutto's second government collapsed under corruption charges, and the country was months away from its controversial nuclear tests at Chagai. The commemorative issue went ahead against a backdrop of serious IMF debt negotiations and a rupee under sustained devaluation pressure.