Morocco (Maroc) 100 Francs 1950

The trouble with coins from Morocco is that you are never really sure what you've got. 1370 is a valid Hejira date, corresponding to 1950 on the Gregorian calendar. But, like several other countries, Morocco sometimes issues coins with false dates. An Austrian thaler, for instance, may be dated 1780, but actually minted in 1995 (see this CoinQuest link). Ugh!

As best we know, this coin is made of silver. But that, too, is subject to error.

As an added twist on this coin, Wangxiao points out that all but 100 of these coins found their way into melting pots, so only 100 are left. If that is true, then the coin is a rarity no matter when it was minted. The catalogs seem to substantiate Wangxiao's claim, but there is always a nagging feeling that some melting pot worker stashed a few thousand samples in his basement.

Further, there is the matter of annotation ESSAI (pattern) on the coin. Some seem to have it, others do not. As far as I know, some coins were issued with ESSAI and some without ESSAI. NGC's World Coin Price Guide lists both. The ESSAI inscription does not appear to affect value.

Roughly, catalog prices run like this:

worn: $100 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $300
well preserved: $500
fully uncirculated: $800

Use our Terminology page to properly interpret these values.
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