AFGHANISTAN. Kingdom. Mohammad Zahir Shah, 1933-1973. Nickel clad steel 25 Pul. Kabul, SH1331 (1952). KM-944.

This nickel clad steel 25 Pul was struck at the Kabul Mint in SH1331 (1952 AD) during the reign of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan and the longest-serving ruler of the country since the founding of the Durrani Empire. Zahir Shah's reign, spanning nearly four decades from 1933 to 1973, was one of the most stable and consequential periods in modern Afghan history, marked by cautious modernization, expanding international relations, and a prolonged era of relative peace often remembered as Afghanistan's golden age.

The SH1331 25 Pul represents a significant transition in Afghan coinage — this type introduced nickel clad steel as the composition for the 25 Pul denomination, replacing the earlier bronze issues of the same denomination. The obverse carries Pashto and Arabic inscriptions reading "Afghanistan" and "Mohammad Zahir Shah," while the reverse displays the Afghan national emblem featuring a mosque with minarets flanked by flags and wheat branches within a wreath. KM-944 specifies a standard weight of 3 grams at 20mm diameter with a smooth edge.

The 25 Pul represented one quarter of an Afghani in everyday Afghan commerce, a denomination that saw active circulation throughout the mid-20th century. The SH1331 date is the first year of issue for this type and accounts for the large majority of surviving examples, making it the most accessible date in the series.