FEZ. 5% Obligation de F500, unissued. brown, yellow. #125000. Fold. The finest and rarest of Moroccan bonds. It dates from the troubled period prior to the creation of the French protectorate in 1912. The sultan of the time Abdul Aziz IV (1894-1908) ruled from Fez (where this bond was issued). The country was the object of envy for various European countries (France, Germany, Spain, Britain), but France and Spain were the most successful in obtaining financial, economic and military privileges in different parts of the country. In 1912 these were formalised in the Franco-Moroccan Treaty and the Franco-Spanish Agreement, and the country was finally pacified by 1914 under the two European states. The splendid design, by the renowned Belgian designer Gustave Fraipont, shows scenes of Fez and Tangier, with Moroccans, handcrafts, cactus, etc. The loan was raised in Paris to repay existing French, English and Spanish loans, and was to be repaid from the customs receipts of the eight ports of the Moroccan Empire. By 1929 nearly half of the 125.000 bonds hadbeen repaid, and the Moroccan Government exercised its right to call all the outstanding bonds for repayment in 1929. They then ceased to be quoted on the Paris bourse. Only two unissued bonds are known to us (we sold the other one in 2006).