Gold dinar of Offa
Imitation dated 774 ・ gold ・ 8th century ・ Kingdom of Mercia (imitating an Abbasid dinar)
obverse
About the photos
The reverse is not shown on this page. Only the obverse is pictured.
A strange gold coin held by the British Museum. In form it is an Abbasid dinar, copying al-Mansur's issue dated 774. But the Arabic script is a copy of shapes only, with no readable meaning, and cutting in among it is a Latin legend: OFFA REX, King Offa. It is hard evidence that Islamic gold had reached Britain. Whether it was for Mediterranean trade or for a payment to the pope is not certainly known. A piece that tells how the island of the eighth century was tied to the world.