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Dirham - Sidi Mohammed III 1st Standard, al-Araish
| Issuer | Alawi Sultanate of Morocco |
|---|---|
| Year | 1767-1773 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Dirham |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Irregular flan typical of hammered coinage, bearing a central Arabic religious and mint inscription arranged in multiple lines across the field. The legend references the mint of al-Araish (Larache) and the act of striking, executed in a bold, somewhat crude hand consistent with provincial Moroccan hammered silver dirhams of the Alawi period. The surfaces show characteristic granular texture from the hammering process, with raised lettering in the centre and a plain, unbordered field. No figurative devices are present, in accordance with Islamic numismatic tradition. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ضرب بالعرايش عام (Translation: Struck At El Araish Year) |
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| Additional information |
Sidi Mohammed III inherited a mint system in disarray and spent the early years of his reign standardizing coinage across a fragmented network of provincial mints. Al-Araish — the Atlantic port known to Europeans as Larache — was one of the first mints brought under his reformed regime, producing dirhams to a consistent weight standard that had been absent under his predecessors. The town's position as a key point of contact with European traders gave these coins an unusually wide circulation beyond the sultan's immediate domain.