Owner Comments:
Abd al-Aziz; AH 1311 - 1326, 1894 - 1908 AD
The reign of Abd al-Aziz was troubled and complicated. The Sultan took the throne at the young age of 16, so he was not fully prepared for it. His mother was Georgian (the country, not the state), and so she encouraged her son to take advice from European advisors. However, these advisors had their own agenda – namely, that of making Morocco into a European colony. After the conference in Madrid in 1880, the Europeans grew bolder in their efforts to take over the country.
Abd al-Aziz was fascinated by European culture and technology. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Moroccan Empire was essentially closed to foreigners. There was limited trade, and very few Europeans living in the country. During the reign of his father Hassan, much of the country was opened to Europeans – traders and engineers were welcomed into the country, and many young Moroccans were sent to European technical and military schools. The influence of European advisors was slowly becoming increasingly more important. However, many traditionalists resisted these changes. The friction between the Islamic Moroccans, the Jews, and the Christian Europeans led to rebellions throughout al-Aziz’s reign. During these uprisings, the makzhen (or, Moroccan government) increasingly relied on French arms, training, and assistance in quelling the rebellions.
Coupled with all of this was the lavish expenditures of Abd al-Aziz himself. Due to the reparations forced on Hassan, and the peace treaty agreements with the Spanish, the income of the Moroccan government was significantly reduced. However, Abd al-Aziz spent lavishly. He attempted to reform the financial system of the country by reorganizing the taxes, but much of the money taken in was spent on the Sultan’s personal lifestyle, or on firearms. Many of the arms purchased, however, were antiquated. The Europeans had no intention of selling modern firearms to a nation they had an interest in conquering! The European influence grew in the country, to the resentment of native Moroccans. They rightly deduced that France, Germany, and Spain were interested in splitting the country for themselves.
Throughout the entries for the coins of Abd al-Aziz, we’ll talk in detail about the major events of his reign, how they helped lead the country down the path to the Protectorate, and how these events contributed to the start of the Great War.
This coin, minted in AH1313 (1896 AD) came from Berlin. Relatively few coins were minted in Berlin, but the period from 1313 to 1322 saw the mintage of a few different coin series. They can be easily distinguished from the later coins from Paris by the arrowheads – the Berlin arrowheads point outwards, the Paris arrowhead point inwards (compare this coin with the next coin in the set). These arrowheads are the four elaborate arrowheads on the obverse, and the 5 simple ones on the reverse.
This coin has somewhat lackluster surfaces, but it is still an attractive coin. Not many of these survived, and especially not in high grade. The smooth grey look is appealing, telling me that it is a nice, original coin.