Dinar – Fez Branch of Saadi dynasty

In 1604, the Fez branch of the Saadi dynasty, under Sultan Zaydan al-Nasir, operated within a complex and challenging monetary environment. The dynasty, which controlled southern Morocco and Marrakesh, saw Fez as a northern stronghold often contested with rival family claimants and the encroaching Ottoman Empire. This political fragmentation directly impacted the currency system, creating a landscape of competing mints and monetary authorities. The Fez mint, while active, did not hold a monopoly, and its output vied with coins produced in Marrakesh and other regional centers, leading to inconsistencies in weight and purity that hampered inter-regional trade.

The primary currency was the silver dirham, but the period was marked by a critical shortage of precious metals, particularly silver. This was exacerbated by the cessation of major Sudanese gold shipments via the trans-Saharan trade routes, which had historically funded the Saadi state. To finance ongoing military struggles, the Fez authorities frequently resorted to debasement—reducing the silver content in coins—which triggered inflation and eroded public trust in the currency. Furthermore, a flood of low-quality Spanish reales and other European coins entered the market through trade and piracy, further complicating the monetary ecology and often circulating at values detached from their intrinsic metal worth.

Consequently, the currency situation in Fez in 1604 was one of instability and transition. It reflected the broader decline of centralized Saadi power and the strain of perpetual conflict. While the mint in Fez continued to produce coinage as a symbol of sovereignty, its practical economic authority was weakened by fiscal pressures, metallic scarcity, and a market saturated with heterogeneous and often debased coins. This monetary fragility underscored the political and economic challenges facing the Saadi state just decades before it would succumb to the rising Alaouite dynasty.