Editing French protectorate in Morocco (section)

== Postal history ==
{{Main|Postal history of Morocco}}

A French postal agency had sent [[mail]] from [[Tangier]] as early as 1854.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoYeAQAAMAAJ&q=1854|title=The Collectors Club Philatelist|date=1948|publisher=Collectors Club|pages=23|language=en}}</ref> However, the formal beginning of the system was in 1892, when the Sultan of Morocco Hassan established the first organized state owned postal service called [[Postage stamps and postal history of Morocco|Sharifan post]], by opening several post offices throughout the country.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6fALw8d9ZoC&pg=PA85|title=The Mellah of Marrakesh: Jewish and Muslim Space in Morocco's Red City|last=Gottreich|first=Emily|date=2007|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253218636|pages=85|language=en}}</ref> This initiative aimed to limit the foreign or local private postal services. After the establishment of the protectorate in 1912, the offices issued [[postage stamp]]s of France [[Overprint|surcharge]]d with values in [[Spanish peseta|pesetas]] and [[centimo]]s, at a 1–1 ratio with the denominations in [[French currency]], using both the [[Type Sage]] issues, and after 1902, [[Mouflon issue]] inscribed "MAROC" (which were never officially issued without the surcharge). In 1911, the Mouflon designs were overprinted in [[Arabic language|Arabic]].

The first stamps of the protectorate appeared 1 August 1914, and were just the existing stamps with the additional overprint reading "PROTECTORAT FRANCAIS".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLxJAQAAMAAJ&q=morocco+post+1+august+1914+%22protectorat+francais%22|title=The New England Philatelist|date=1914|publisher=Essex Publishing Company|pages=336|language=en}}</ref> The first new designs were in an issue of 1917, consisting of 17 stamps in six designs, denominated in [[centime]]s and [[franc]]s, and inscribed "MAROC".{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}