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5 Francs - Mohammed V Gilt Essai
| Issuer | Morocco |
|---|---|
| Year | 1946 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Coin alignment ↑↓ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Arabic, Latin |
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| Reverse description | The denomination 5 FRANCS is boldly inscribed within a square set on its corner point (lozenge orientation), itself placed at the center of an elaborate circular arabesque medallion with interlaced geometric and foliate decoration. The word ESSAI appears in small letters beneath FRANCS within the central square, confirming the pattern status of this piece. The legend MAROC arcs prominently along the upper border in stylized Latin letters, while the lower field is filled with additional arabesque ornamental motifs. The design is consistent with the aesthetic of Moroccan coinage produced at the Monnaie de Paris under the Sharifian protectorate. |
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| Additional information |
Essais of the French Protectorate period were produced at the Paris Mint for official approval purposes, not circulation. This gilt copper strike of the 1946 5 Francs type sits in an awkward political moment: Mohammed V was already in open tension with French colonial authority, a friction that would culminate in his forced exile to Madagascar in 1953. The French administration continued issuing coinage in his name throughout, a mundane bureaucratic act that carried increasingly charged political weight.
Gilt essais of this type survive in very small numbers, almost entirely in institutional or specialist collections.