Morocco AH 1189 mithqal
Prior to the coinage reform of 1889, Moroccan coins were either hammered or cast, and counterfeits abounded. What was lacking in local coins was made up for by the circulation of large quantities of foreign silver currency. Shown is a ten dirham silver hammered coin struck AH 1187-1189. This specimen was lot 1590 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $600. The catalog description[1] noted, "MOROCCO ('ALAWI SHARIF): Muhammad III, 1757-1790, AR 10 dirhams (mithqal), AH1189, 1st standard with ahad ahad ("one one", i.e., "God is One") followed by the date on reverse, only the mint name on obverse, squarish flan, VF, ex Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection." Among other events during Muhammed's long reign, Morocco became the first nation to recognize the United States of America as an independent nation.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 29.31 g, silver, this specimen 28.01 g.
Catalog reference: KM-41.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- Gadoury, Victor, and George Cousinié, Monnaies Coloniales Françaises, 1670-1988, 2me Éd., Monaco: Éditions Victor Gadoury, 1988.
- Sanchez-Giron, J.M., Monedas de Marruecos, Ceuta, Spain: J.M. Sanchez-Giron, 1972.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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