The Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis (also known as the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis) is a federal two-island country in the West Indies. It is the smallest sovereign state in the Americas, in both area and population.

The capital city and headquarters of government for the federated state is Basseterre on the larger island of Saint Kitts. The smaller island of Nevis lies southeast of Saint Kitts, across a shallow channel called "The Narrows".

Historically, the British dependency of Anguilla was also a part of this union, which was then known collectively as Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla. To the north-northwest lie the islands of Sint Eustatius, Saba (the Netherlands), Saint Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and Anguilla. To the east and northeast are Antigua and Barbuda, and to the southeast is the small uninhabited island of Redonda, and the island of Montserrat, which currently has an active volcano.

The island was first settled by Native Americans. The last wave of Native American arrivals, the Kalinago people, arrived approximately three centuries before the Europeans. The islands were discovered by the Europeans through a Spanish expedition under Columbus in 1493. In 1538, French Huguenots established a settlement on St. Kitts but the settlement was destroyed by the Spanish soon afterwards and the survivors were deported. In 1623, an English settlement was established, which was soon followed by French settlements, the island being divided by agreement. Dissimilar to many other islands, the local Kalinago people on the island allowed Europeans to colonise Saint Kitts. In 1626, the Anglo-French settlers massacred the Kalinago, pre-empting a plan by the Kalinago to drive the foreigners from the island. Since Saint Kitts was home to the first English and French colonies in the Caribbean, and thus has also been titled "The Mother Colony of the West Indies".

A Spanish expedition, sent to enforce Spanish claims, destroyed the English and French colonies and deported the settlers back to their respective countries in 1629. As part of the war settlement in 1630, the Spanish permitted the re-establishment of the English and French colonies.

As Spanish power went into decline, Saint Kitts became the premier base for English and French expansion into the Caribbean, as the islands of Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla and Tortola for the English, and Martinique, the Guadeloupe archipelago and St. Barts for the French were colonised from it. During the late 17th century, France and England battled for control over St Kitts, and it was ceded to Britain in 1713.

Although small in size, and separated by only 3 km of water, the two islands were viewed and governed as different states until the late 19th century, when they were forcibly unified along with the island of Anguilla by the British.

Saint Kitts and Nevis, along with Anguilla, became an associated state with full internal autonomy in 1967. Anguillians rebelled, and separated from the others in 1971. St. Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983. It is the newest sovereign state in the Americas.

This is one of the only coins ever produced by Saint Kitts and Nevis and one of the few produced in the last decades. It is part of a series of Caribbean coins dedicated to the region's flora.