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5 Riffans
| Issuer | State Bank of the Riff |
|---|---|
| Year | 1923 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | The note is printed in olive-green on plain paper with a guilloche border framing the entire design. A mounted horseman vignette appears at the left, with a rearing horse and rider at the right, flanked by crescent and six-pointed star devices in the upper corners. The serial number and date '10.10.23' are handstamped in manuscript within a central rectangular frame, above the Arabic denomination inscription. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | STATE BANK OF THE RIFF بنك حكومة الريف خمسة ريفانات FIVE RIFFANS EQUAL TO FIFTY ENGLISH PENCE BON POUR CINQ FRANCS D'OR |
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| Comments |
The State Bank of the Riff was established by Abd el-Krim al-Khattabi as part of his broader project to run the Republic of the Rif as a functioning sovereign state, complete with a postal system, a mining administration, and its own currency. The bank itself was short-lived — the Republic lasted only from 1921 to 1926, when combined French and Spanish military pressure, including the deployment of mustard gas by Spanish forces, finally forced Abd el-Krim's surrender.
Whether these notes circulated in any meaningful volume is genuinely unclear. The Rif had a predominantly tribal economy, and paper currency issued by a central authority was not a natural fit. Most surviving examples are thought to have been preserved as curiosities rather than recovered from actual use.
Pick lists only a handful of types for this issuer, making the series among the rarest of any 20th-century North African emission.