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KING OFFA'S ARABIC COINA new British Library exhibition features an unusual coin of medieval King Offa featuring an Arabic inscription. We'd mentioned this piece in an E-Sylum article back in 2011. Here's an excerpt from an October 19, 2018 Daily Star article. -Editor  King Offa's coins featured the Islamic declaration 'No God but Allah' King Offa of Mercia, who reigned between 757AD and 796AD, minted hundreds of Gold dinars featuring his name and the Islamic declaration of faith. He is widely considered the most powerful Anglo Saxon king before the Alfred the Great as his rule at different points extended outside of Mercia (the Midlands) into kingdoms such as Kent, Sussex and Wessex. And the Christian ruler sought to trade with Europe and the Mediterranean including the then Muslim-controlled Spain, which explains the coinage. Dr Alison Hudson, co-curator of the new British Library exhibition, said: “The Anglo-Saxon moneyer who made this coin clearly did not understand Arabic. “The Arabic inscription is upside down in relation to Offa’s name, and there is abundant evidence Offa was Christian, not Muslim. “In fact, this gold coin might have been one of 365 gold coins Offa reportedly sent to the pope in Rome. “Nevertheless, the coin shows the importance and influence of trade links between the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, the Mediterranean and beyond in this period. “Offa may have chosen to mint gold coins because the gold dinar was the dominant coinage in the Mediterranean in this period. “Moreover, al-Mansur’s dinar seems to have arrived in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and inspired Offa’s coins within a few decades—and possibly within a few years – after it was minted in AD 773-74, which also attest to the relative speed with which these trade networks connected the far northwest of Europe to Mediterranean and even Baghdad. “Trade and cultural links with the Mediterranean, the European continent and beyond were important throughout the Anglo-Saxon period.” The only surviving coin is part of a huge selection of artefacts at a major new exhibition – Anglo Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War – which opened today at the British Library in London. To read the complete article, see: To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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