2 Francs - Mohammed V Pattern

Pattern coinage struck at the Paris Mint in 1951 places this piece squarely within the final turbulent years of the French Protectorate, when the relationship between Rabat and Paris was deteriorating rapidly. Mohammed V had already begun signaling nationalist sympathies openly enough that French authorities were monitoring his public statements. Two years after this pattern was struck, the French deported him to Corsica — and then Madagascar — triggering mass unrest across Morocco.

Whether this gold pattern was ever seriously considered for circulation is doubtful. The Protectorate's monetary administration had little incentive to invest in prestige coinage for a sultan they were about to exile.