2 1/2 Dirhams / 1/4 Rial - Abd al-Aziz Berlin Mint

This issue dates to the final years of Abd al-Aziz's reign, when the Makhzen was hemorrhaging sovereignty to European creditors and the 1904 Entente Cordiale was already being negotiated over Morocco's head. The Berlin mint contract — awarded to the German firm rather than Paris or London — was itself a minor diplomatic maneuver, Abd al-Aziz playing European powers against one another to delay the inevitable. It didn't work. The Algeciras Conference of 1906 effectively ended Moroccan financial independence, and Abd al-Aziz was deposed by his brother Hafid in 1908.

Y#20.1 denotes the Berlin Mint variety, distinguished from the Paris striking of the same type by subtle differences in die preparation documented in Moroccan series references.