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

This example displays a die crack, a minting characteristic caused by stress fractures developing in the die during the production run. As a die crack progresses, it leaves a raised line of metal on the coin's surface corresponding to the path of the fracture. Die cracks are a recognized category of mint error and are actively collected by error coin specialists, adding a layer of numismatic interest beyond the coin's historical and typological significance. This piece is an appealing option for the collector who pursues both Afghan coinage and mint errors.