5 Asper - Abdel Kader

Abd al-Qadir al-Jazairi established his emirate in western Algeria in 1832 as a direct response to French colonial expansion following the 1830 invasion. His administration built functioning state infrastructure — including a treasury and mint — out of near nothing, while simultaneously conducting military campaigns against French forces. These billon pieces represent one of the very few instances of an indigenous Algerian coinage, issued by a government that ceased to exist when Abd al-Qadir surrendered to General Lamoricière in December 1847.