AFGHANISTAN. Kingdom. Mohammad Zahir Shah, 1933–1973. Aluminum 25 Pul. "SH1331" ("1952"). Struck on KM-949 Planchets in 1970. UNC. KM-945. Schön-82b.

This aluminum 25 Pul is one of the more intriguing oddities in the coinage of the Kingdom of Afghanistan — a coin that presents as a standard SH1331 (1952) issue but was not actually struck until 1970, nearly two decades after the date it carries, and on planchets that were never intended for this denomination.

The story behind this coin involves two separate strands of numismatic history that converge in an unexpected way. The first concerns the dies: the 25 Pul dies used here are recycled from the original SH1331 (1952) production run, leaving the coin with a frozen date of SH1331 despite having been struck in 1970. The second concerns the planchets. KM-949 is the aluminum 2 Afghani piece dated SH1337 (1958), struck to a standard weight of 2.6 grams at approximately 24.8mm diameter. Production of that denomination had been curtailed in an earlier period due to counterfeiting concerns — the 2 Afghani coin was worth significantly more than its face value suggested relative to the 25 Pul, making it an attractive target for counterfeiters, and the authorities brought the production run to an abrupt halt. The surplus planchets that had been prepared for the KM-949 run were set aside rather than destroyed, and when the decision was made to strike additional 25 Pul coins in 1970, those leftover aluminum planchets were pressed into service. The result is a coin struck with 25 Pul dies on 2 Afghani planchets, carrying a date from 1952, produced in 1970.

Catalogued as KM-945 with Schön-82b, the standard type specification calls for 2.5 grams at 24mm diameter in aluminum. The KM-949 planchets are slightly heavier at 2.6 grams and marginally larger at approximately 24.8mm, meaning examples struck on these planchets may display subtle but measurable physical differences from standard KM-945 coins. This example is presented in Uncirculated condition, retaining original mint surfaces. For the specialist in Afghan coinage or the collector of production oddities and planchet varieties, this is a genuinely unusual piece with a well-documented backstory rooted in the monetary history of mid-20th century Afghanistan.