The rial was the currency of Morocco between 1882 and 1921. The Banque d'Etat du Maroc issued paper money denominated in rial between 1910 and 1917. In Spanish Morocco, the rial was replaced by the Spanish peseta. In French Morocco, the rial was replaced in 1921 by the franc. The dirham, a unit of currency pre-dating French influence was reintroduced in 1960. The first dirham banknotes were overprints on earlier franc banknotes. In 1965 production of new paper money denominated in dirham began.
