50 Centimes - Mohammed V Cu-Ni Essai

France's postwar monetary reorganization extended to its protectorates, and Morocco required new coinage as the old Vichy-era issues became politically untenable. This piece is an essai — a trial strike produced by the Monnaie de Paris for official evaluation, never released for circulation. Essais from this period were struck in very small numbers, typically a few hundred pieces at most, and distributed among mint officials, government ministries, and select collectors.

Mohammed V had been sultan since 1927, though French authorities held effective power until independence in 1956.