MOROCCO (2 of 2)
Two things...
Some Casino Tokens
Two Older Tokens from Morocco
See more at... Morocco - Page 1 of 2
Some Casino Tokens
Marrakech - Le Grand Casino de la Mamounia - 2 Dirham
1987, 150dpi - (Image from Kenji Natsume)
Marrakech - Le Grand Casino de la Mamounia - 5 Dirham
1987, 150dpi - (Image from Kenji Natsume)
Of course this hotel can be found on the internet. La Mamounia is a
rather smart hotel in central Marrakech.
Agadir - Casino le Mirage - 5 Dirham, 150dpi - (Image
from Kenji Natsume)
“Groupe Partouche” is a large, French, casinos and hotels group.
They
have eight hotels and over 40 casinos in France. In Belgium, Spain and
Switzerland they have a total of 5 casinos, in Africa they have 2
casinos.
Their African casinos are Casino le Mirage in Agadir, Morocco and
Casino
de Djerba in Djerba, Tunisia. There are casino tokens with the
Partouche
Group’s logo for at least some of the casinos. Notice the design on the
Agadir piece includes the cornucopia mint mark of the French mint
(below
the “5”).
Agadir - Shem's Casino - 2 (Dirham?), scale to about
150dpi
Here's one more token from Agadir, it is from Shem's Casino.
Again
there is only a number for the denomination. I can only assume that
this is 2 Dirhams. The central decorative design is the casino's logo.
The name, the logo and the "2" are all within a beaded border, the
design to each side of the token is the same. The tokens seem to be
made from Copper-Nickel, though there is a hint of brown to the colour.
The diameter is approximately 24.5mm.
Two Older Tokens From Morocco
These next two pieces are French colonial tokens. This broad category
includes tokens from various parts of the world, many being issues from
around 50 to 100 years ago, hence a period of significant worldwide
French
influence/control. Some of the Algerian notgeld tokens are relatively
easy to find - I have a few of them. Most other French colonial tokens
from North Africa are otherwise scarce, particularly outside France.
One easy place to find images of a few of those scarce tokens is Ebay
France; where many of the pieces fetch high prices. French Colonial
tokens from around the world, including those from north Africa, are
catalogued in great detail by Jean Lecompte in "Monnaies et
Jetons des Colonies Francaises". This book, which also covers regular
coinage and medallic pieces, is now in its second edition, dated 2007.
Kursaal Tanger 5 Centimes
Kursaal Tanger 50
These are my two tokens, they were acquired at reasonable (almost
cheap) prices and outside of France. First take a look at the tokens in
a little more detail...
The obverse of each token shows "KURSAAL" above-around and "TANGER"
below-around, with two five-pointed star spacers.
The central feature to the reverse of each token is an indication of
the denomination. On the first piece this is "5c" (with the "c"
superscript and underlined) to show denomination "5 Centimes" then
there are two small decorations, one above and one below the
denomination and finally there is a
maker's mark to be found to the right of the lower decoration. On the
second piece
the central feature on the reverse is just the number "50", presumably
to show a denomination "50 Centimes" then centrally below this is a
maker's mark, this is all encircled within a ring of dots and
crescents. The maker's mark on each token is that of "F. Cartaux", the
two tiny incuse letters above the base-line of the raised triangle are
"FC". I have yet to identify the small incuse symbol within the
triangle, just above the two letters.
There are hundreds of old French tokens on which this exact maker's
mark can
be found; many of those tokens also include the name "CARTAUX" in
tiny lettering somewhere in the field between the main design features.
The 5 Centimes token is round, made from Copper-Nickel and has a
diameter of about 20.8mm. It is listed in "Monnaies et Jetons des
Colonies Francaises" as Morocco Lecompte-343.
The 50 (Centimes) token is 13-scalloped, made from Copper-Nickel and
has a
diameter of about 23.0mm. It is listed in "Monnaies et Jetons des
Colonies
Francaises" as Morocco Lecompte-345.
The likely time that these tokens would have been issued would have
been for a period of a number of years somewhere in the
1910s/1920s/1930s -
perhaps as late as the 1940s. In English we say "Tangier" and not
"Tanger"
as used in French. On the internet I was able to find brief details for
a "Lido
Kursaal" (seemingly with a casino), a "Kursaal Internacional" and a
"Grand Kursaal Français" each in Tangier and likely in business
during the
period in
question. Further to this, I came across several images of tokens for a
"Kursaal Français" in Tangier, again
from
the right era. My two tokens could well be from one particular
establishment out of these four - but I have no real reason to judge
any particular one to be the most likely candidate for this and there
is always the chance that the issuer was some other "Kursaal" in
Tangier.
From the mentions above of "casino", "international" and "French" -
this may bring to mind people from outside of Tangier and with plenty
money ?
Of course ! See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangier
to find out how and why it was that in 1923 Tangier had been given
"international status" therefore being partly controlled by a number of
foreign
nations. Because of this Tangier became a destination for many people
from France, Spain, the U.S.A. and elsewhere.
Finally - in case you did not know - the word "kursaal" was originally
a German word for a public hall or a room for visitors at a spa or
health resort. For over a hundred years "Kursaal" has been used as the
name or part of the name of various public halls and of
many entertainment/amusement centres at spa or coastal resorts, in such
as
Germany, France, Belgium, England and of course in Tangier. I have
tokens
from three other establishments named "Kursaal", although at least 2 of
these are much more recent than my "Kursaal Tangers" pieces. One such
piece is brass and to each side there are the legends "KURSAAL" and
"1F" (denomination 1 Franc). Unfortunately I cannot make anything of a
clear attribution for this piece. Another "Kursaal" piece makes
reference to the 1998 re-opening of the "Kursaal" at Southend-on-Sea on
the
south coast of England. The third "Kursaal" piece I have is of the type
that I
have encountered most often. It is Zinc and has the obverse legend
“CASINO-KURSAAL d’OSTENDE” and reverse legend is "1"; it would seem to
be a machine token. Ostende is on the Belgian coast and this casino is
still in business; it is one of the largest in Europe. I think I have a
few of the other tokens from Ostende's "Kursaal Casino".
See more at... Morocco - Page 1 of 2
Morocco Coins Page
Back to AFRICA TOKENS page.
This page added new with "Some Casino Tokens" at August 2005.
Added the Shem's Casino token at May 2013.
Added "Two Older Tokens From Morocco" at May 2013.