NUMISMATICS
Why Did an Eighth-Century Anglo-Saxon King Mint Islamic Gold Dinars? A long-ago time when the caliphate’s currency was held in awe and dominated the then-known world’s economy BY MISBAHUDDIN MIRZA
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ing Offa (d.796), the ruler of Mercia and the most powerful Anglo-Saxon king of the latter half of the eighth century, extended his supremacy over most of southern England. He is also famous for the lengthy “Offa’s Dyke,” which stretches along the kingdom’s western border to keep out the Welsh. Asser, a Welshman and Bishop of Sherborne during the 890s, described it as “a great dyke built between Wales and Mercia from sea to sea.” This Christian monarch, praised by Charlemagne’s advisor Alcuin, had come into conflict with Jænberht, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Many historians believe that Offa was the most powerful Anglo-Saxon king before Alfred the Great (848/49-899). So, why did he mint golden coins that imitated Caliph al-Mansur’s (r.754-775) gold dinar? This unique and interesting coin, now in the British Museum, was first discovered in Rome. European numismatists started discussing it during the 19th century. Adrien de Longpérier, a 19th-century French numismatist, archaeologist and curator, was the first one to describe this amazing coin in Paris, in 1841. His paper was published the same year in the society’s Numismatic Chronicle (vol. iv, pp. 232-34). European numismatists’ fascination with this coin continued throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. In the U.S., an image of it first appeared in Philip Hitti’s “The History of the Arab Peoples” (1937). Maj. P.W.P. Carlyton-Britton, F.S.A., founder and president of the British Numismatic Society, published a notable paper on it in 1908, entitled “The Gold Mancus of Offa, King of Mercia,” in the British Numismatic Journal (vol. 5, 1908, pp. 55-72). The word mancus is derived from the Arabic manqus, which signifies a coin made of gold, silver or copper. Compare this 157 hijri Abbasid gold
Abbasid al-Mansur Gold Dinar from the author’s collection. Inscription translation: There is no god but Allah alone He has no partner In the name of Allah this dinar was struck in Madinat al-Salam in the year 157 Hijri.
dinar of Caliph al-Mansur (from the author’s collection) with a photo of the Offa Gold Mancus, which is an exact replica of the former coin with the addition of “Offa Rex’’ (Offa King) on the reverse. The slight spelling mistakes are, of course, understandable, because the Anglo-Saxon die-maker didn’t know Arabic. Carlyton-Britton provides various opinions as to why Offa might have issued this coin, before agreeing with Longpérier’s original opinion – that these dinars were minted in order to pay Rome the promised tribute. He quotes D.H. Haigh’s “Notes on the Old English Coinage,” Numismatic Chronicle, N.S. (vol. ix, p. 180): “I cannot think that the gold dinar with the name Offa was ever meant for circulation in England; nor that a coinage such as this could have been devised for the purpose of payment of the tribute promised to Rome. It could only have been intended for the purposes of commerce with Spain, Africa, or the East; or for the use of pilgrims to the Holy Land. The latter I think is more probable; and Rome, where it was found, was in the route of all pilgrims.” During his conflict with Jænberht, Offa persuaded Pope Adrian I to split the archdiocese of Canterbury in two, thereby creating the new archdiocese of Lichfield. This
50 ISLAMIC HORIZONS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
This unique coin carries the inscription offa rex, showing that it was made for Offa, king of Mercia (reigned 757–796). The design is directly copied from a dinar coin of Offa’s contemporary, the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur (ah 136–58/ad 754–775). It is closely enough copied to identify not only the ruler but also the date of the coin from which this design was copied, which was issued in ah 157 (ad 773–74). However, it is clear that the die-cutter did not read Arabic, as minor errors have been introduced into the Arabic inscription, which is upside down in relation to Offa’s name and title.
reduction in Canterbury’s power could have been motivated by the king’s desire to have an archbishop consecrate his son Ecgfrith as king. Carlyton-Britton refers to the charter of 788, signed by both Offa and Ecgfrith, which contains a direct reference to Offa’s vow to the pope through the legates George, bishop of Ostia, and Theophylact, bishop of Todi — the latter individual was one of the most famous Byzantine biblical scholars and exegetes — to send 365 mancuses annually to the pope, or to the church of St. Peter, as alms for the poor. This tribute is called the romfeoh (Peter’s Pence). A slight digression here. In July 1944, delegates from 44 countries met in Bretton Woods, N.H., to create a new monetary system, one that would peg their currencies to the American dollar. In turn, this was fixed to gold at the-then existing parity of $35/ounce. This was an acknowledgement of the dollar’s tremendous economic power. Although Richard Nixon disconnected the dollar from its gold backing
