Dirham - Abd Allah al-Ghalib

Abd Allah al-Ghalib ruled the Saadian sultanate at its administrative peak, consolidating power in Fez after his father Muhammad al-Sheikh's assassination by Ottoman agents in 1557 — a killing that defined Moroccan-Ottoman hostility for the remainder of the dynasty. His reign was notably stable by Saadian standards, and silver coinage from Fez circulated widely into sub-Saharan trade networks fed by the trans-Saharan gold routes the dynasty jealously controlled.

The Fez mint attribution distinguishes this from Marrakesh-struck dirhams of the same reign, which show minor calligraphic die differences documented in the Zeno corpus.