Saharawi Arab Republic Coins

Obverse of Undated 1992 Saharawi 1,000 Pesetas - 10 Ecu

Countries

Reverse of Undated 1992 Saharawi 1,000 Pesetas - 10 Ecu

Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic - Brief History
Most of the following is taken from Wikipedia.
In 1884, Spain was awarded the coastal area of present-day Western Sahara at the Berlin Conference, and began establishing trading posts and a military presence. The borders of the area were not clearly defined until treaties between Spain and France in the early 20th century. Spanish Sahara was then created from the Spanish territories of Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra in 1924. It was not part of, and administered separately from, the areas known as Spanish Morocco.
Entering the territory in 1884, Spain was immediately challenged by stiff resistance from the indigenous Sahrawi tribes. A 1904 rebellion led by the powerful Smara-based marabout, shaykh Ma al-Aynayn was put down by France in 1910, but it was followed by a wave of uprisings under Ma al-Aynayns sons, grandsons and other political leaders.
Morocco virtually annexed Western Sahara during the late 1970s, but final resolution on the status of the territory remains unresolved.
Because of this, Spain proved unable to extend control to the interior parts of the country until 1934. At its accession to independence in 1956, Morocco laid claim on Spanish Sahara as part of its pre-colonial territory, and in 1957, the Moroccan Army of Liberation nearly expelled the Spanish from the country in the Ifni War. The Spanish were only able to re-establish control with the assistance of the French by 1958, and embarked on a harsh strategy of retaliation towards the countryside, forcibly settling many of the previously nomadic bedouins of Spanish Sahara and speeding up urbanization, while many others were forced into exile to Morocco proper. In the same year, Spain returned the provinces of Tarfaya and Tantan to Morocco.
In the 1960s, Morocco continued to claim Spanish Sahara and succeeded in getting it to be listed on the list of territories to be decolonized. In 1969, Spain returned to Morocco the region of Ifni, that served as the seat of the Spanish administration of Spanish Sahara.
In 1967, the Spanish colonization was further challenged by a peaceful protest movement, the Harakat Tahrir, which demanded the end of occupation. After its violent suppression in the 1970 Zemla Intifada, Sahrawi nationalism reverted to its militant origins, with the 1973 formation of the Polisario Front. The Front's guerrilla army grew rapidly, and Spain had lost effective control over most of the countryside in early 1975. An attempt at sapping the strength of Polisario by creating a modern political rival to it, the Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui (PUNS), met with little success.
Spain proceeded to co-opt tribal leaders by setting up the Djema'a, a political institution (very) loosely based on traditional Sahrawi tribal leaderships. The Djema'a members were hand-picked by the authorities, but given privileges in return for rubber-stamping Madrid's decisions[citation needed].
Immediately before the death of the aging Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in the winter of 1975, however, Spain was confronted with an intensive campaign of territorial demands from Morocco, and to a lesser extent Mauritania, culminating in the Green March. Spain then withdrew its forces and settlers from the territory, after negotiating in 1975, a tripartite agreement with Morocco and Mauritania, by which both took control of the region. Mauritania later surrendered its claim after fighting an unsuccessful war against the Polisario. Morocco engaged in a war with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, although a cease-fire came into effect in 1991, and the territory remains under dispute.
The United Nations considers the former Spanish Sahara a non-decolonized territory, with Spain as the formal administrative power. UN peace efforts have aimed at the organization of a referendum on independence among the Sahrawi population, but this has not yet taken place. The African Union and at least 44 governments consider the territory a sovereign, albeit occupied, state under the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), with an exile government backed by the Polisario Front.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) or in Spanish: República Árabe Saharaui Democrática (RASD) is a largely unrecognized de facto state that does not currently control the majority of its claimed territory, the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara. It was proclaimed on February 27, 1976 by the Polisario Front. Currently, Morocco administers the majority of the territory as its Southern Provinces, called 'Occupied Territory' by the Polisario; the SADR claims to control the rest as what it describes as the Free Zone, seen as a buffer zone by Morocco.
It is recognised by 23 states and is a member of the African Union.

CIA
According to the CIA:
Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed.

Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic Coins
We have recently acquired a small quantity of silver proof crowns issued in the name of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.
Saharawi coins have been issued since 1992 with various themes, although all are either commemorative or non-circulating collector's coins, and we are not sure by what authority they have been issued. Nevertheless, they do bear the name of the country, and are listed in Krause's Standard Catalogue of World Coins.
The only ones we have ever seen are the 1992 proof silver crowns with a dual denomination shown as 1,000 pesetas and 10 ecus.

Description
Obverse
The obverse shows the coat of arms of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, with the legend:
REPUBLICA ARABE SAHARAUI DEMOCRATICA
1000 PESETAS

Reverse
A Knight on horseback holding a lance, and a king holding a sword. The legends read:
EN HONOR A LA COMUNIDAD EUROPEA
10
ECU

Specifications

Denomination	Diameter	Weight	Fineness	Silver Content
1,000 Pesetas - 10 Ecu	37.5	31.0000	9990	0.9957

Notes
Diameter = Diameter in millimetres.
Weight = Weight in grams.
Fineness = Silver content in parts per thousand.
Silver = Actual fine silver content in troy ounces.

Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic Coins For Sale

Date	Denomination	Description	Mintage	Grade	Avail	Price £	Price $
1992	1,000 Pesetas - 10 Ecu	European Community	15,000	Proof, about FDC	Yes	£15	$25

Postage & Packing:
UK: At buyer's Risk £3.50 or
Fully Insured £9 (Usually by Royal Mail Special Delivery)
USA: Airmail at buyer's risk $10 or
Fully Insured $20
EU £5 at buyers risk, £10 fully insured.
For further details, please see our Postage & Packing page.

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Coins Wanted
We make an active market in almost all world coins, including Saharan or Moroccan coins. If you have any of these coins to sell, please contact us, or post them to us for appraisal and offer.