The Poe Collection of Moroccan Coinage

Owner Comments:

The early copper coinage of Morocco was made of cast bronze. The engraving is crude and the texture of the coin is rough. Yet, these coins have a unique charm. They are inexpensive, and many dates are easily obtainable. Very few are certified because of their low demand and low value. There are a wide range of varieties, because each one was hand engraved. Usually, many coins were cast at the same time – the metal was pored at the top of a trough, to which were attached numerous chambers for each of the coins. Once the metal cooled, the individual coins were broken off the tree. Sometimes, unbroken “trees” with 10 or 12 coins are offered for sale. On the individual cast coins, you can see a protrusion from the edge – this was it’s connection to the cast (on this coin, you can see it at the top). This is known as the “sprue.”

This coin is another date error, this time a 1289/8 (1872 AD). The date side of these cast coins is usually much cruder than the obverse design, and the same is true here. The date on these cast coins (when there is a date present) is in western numerals rather than Arabic script. This particular coin is quite high grade compared to the usual state of this type of coin, and it has a pleasant patinated bronze color. Overall, this is a very nice coin.