Dinar – Morocco

In 1611, Morocco was under the rule of the Saadian Sultan Zidan Abu Maali, a period marked by both internal fragility and external ambition. The dynasty, having reached its peak wealth and territorial control under Ahmad al-Mansur (d. 1603), was now grappling with a protracted succession crisis. Zidan, based in Marrakesh, fought a near-continuous civil war against his brothers and other claimants, fragmenting central authority and severely disrupting the kingdom's economic stability. This political turmoil directly corroded the state's ability to maintain a unified and trustworthy monetary system.

The currency situation was consequently chaotic and multifaceted. The Saadians minted two primary coins: the gold benduqi (a descendant of the Portuguese cruzado) and the silver dirham. However, the constant warfare drained the treasury, leading to frequent debasement—reducing the precious metal content—of these coins to fund military campaigns. This practice eroded public trust in the official currency. Alongside these unstable royal issues, a plethora of older coins and foreign currencies circulated widely, including Spanish reales, Ottoman altuns, and various European coins from thriving coastal trade, creating a complex and unreliable exchange environment.

Furthermore, the currency crisis was exacerbated by a critical decline in a key source of Saadian wealth: the trans-Saharan gold trade. Control over the trade routes to the Songhai Empire had been lost following the collapse of the Moroccan invasion of the Niger region in the 1590s. With this vital influx of West African gold severely diminished, the Sultanate lacked the bullion needed to restore a sound currency. Thus, in 1611, Morocco's monetary landscape reflected its political reality: fragmented, unstable, and a shadow of the system that had once funded the grandeur of Ahmad al-Mansur's court.