Owner Comments:
This is the next coin in the extremely rare series of pattern issues minted in Fes in AH1306 (1888 AD). Let’s talk about some denominations! Depending on which book you read, you’ll see these listed differently. In Sanchez-Giron, they are listed as “muzunas,” in Lecompte they are listed as “mazounas,” and Krause offers another alternate spelling of “mouzuna” or “mazuna.” I will use the spelling “muzuna” throughout this set. The muzuna had been struck in the AH1100’s (late 1700’s AD), and was at that time a small silver coin valued at one-quarter dirham (the standard silver coin of the time). The muzuna was not in use in 1306 – it would be restored as a minor copper coin in the coinage reform of 1320 (more on that later).
Because there is no value statement on these coins, nobody was really sure exactly what denomination they were. Were they early prototypes of the coinage reform of 1320, and thus we call them muzunas? Or, did they continue the denomination current at the time, the falus? In the early books, they were referred to as muzunas, and thus given the denominations of ½, 1, 2-1/2, 5, and 10 muzunas. New research has revealed that these are not muzunas, and we should actually consider them faluses (recent editions of Krause reflect this new perspective). I’ll explain why these are indeed falus in the next entry!
In no case has this coin ever been referred to as a mitqal – that is an error on NGC’s part. This particular size was called a muzuna. A mitqal was a large silver coin equivalent to 10 Dirhams. (Throughout NGC’s census, you’ll notice several mislabeled coins… mitqals being called muzunas and so forth). However, with the new research, this is more accurately considered a half falus.
This particular coin is a very attractive, flashy coin with the same semi-prooflike fields that the ¼ falus shows. There is plenty of red remaining on this well struck coin. I was pleased to win this one from a Stephen Album auction – in a strange quirk, Album and Heritage each had a nearly full set of the 1306 faluses for sale at the same time! I had to muster some deep cash reserves, but I was able to win 3 of them in January 2018. Lucky me!