½ Dinar – City of Marrakesh

In 1791, Marrakesh, the southern capital of the Alaouite Sultanate under Sultan Moulay Yazid, operated within a complex and fragmented monetary system typical of pre-modern Morocco. The city was a vital commercial hub, linking trans-Saharan caravans carrying gold, ivory, and enslaved people with trade routes to the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. This position necessitated a currency environment that could accommodate both large-scale international commerce and small daily transactions, leading to a circulation of diverse coins from multiple sovereignties and eras.

The primary official currency was the silver dirham, minted by the sultanate in cities like Marrakesh and Fes. However, the quality and weight of these coins were inconsistent, often degraded by clipping or counterfeiting. Alongside these, the gold benduqi (a Moroccan dinar) and Spanish silver reales—especially the ubiquitous "piece of eight"—were widely used for major trade due to their reliable intrinsic value. The most common coin for everyday use in the souks was the low-value copper falus, essential for purchasing daily goods but prone to severe inflation and debasement, which caused significant hardship for the common people.

This monetary heterogeneity reflected the political instability of the period. Sultan Moulay Yazid's brief and tumultuous reign (1790-1792) was marked by conflict with his brothers, which disrupted central authority and the integrity of the royal mints. Consequently, confidence in official coinage wavered, and the market relied increasingly on trusted foreign silver. The currency situation in Marrakesh was thus a microcosm of a kingdom struggling to maintain economic unity, where the value of money was less a function of state decree and more a practical negotiation in the city's bustling souks, directly tied to the volatile politics of the sultanate.