Morocco’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib, put a new 100-dirham bank note into circulation on Nov. 24, first in a new series.
A press release from the bank says the entire production process for this new bank note, as well as a new coin series also to be issued, was conducted exclusively by Moroccan experts at the State Printing House. The note is, in many ways, a political statement. It is described as reflecting Morocco’s cultural heritage in the Sahara Desert as well as the region’s economic achievement and the country’s openness to Africa.
As do all Moroccan bank notes, the obverse features the portrait of King Mohammed VI, the kingdom’s coat of arms, the architectural details inspired by traditional Moroccan doors, as well as the stylized orange arches of the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca.
The reverse shows a stylized view of the Eshwar Square in Laayoune, Western Sahara, and the recently completed 665-mile-long coastal highway between the Moroccan city of Tiznit, and Dakhla in the Western Sahara.
The Western Sahara is a disputed territory of which about 20% is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, with the rest occupied and governed by Morocco.
There is also a depiction of the traditional festivities of Tan-Tan “Moussem.” This is an annual gathering in southwest Morocco of nomadic people of the Sahara that brings together more than 30 tribes from southern Morocco and other parts of northwest Africa. UNESCO placed it on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2005. UNESCO describes a Moussem as a type of annual fair with economic, cultural, and social functions.
The new note incorporates innovative security features, such as a three-windowed security thread, color-shifting magnetic ink, intaglio printing and a latent image.
Future issues will be 20-, 50- and 200-dirham notes. Issue dates are yet to be determined.
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