King Offa of Mercia & the Islamic Coin

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Among the most mysterious discoveries of Anglo-Saxon archaeology is the golden coinage of King Offa of Mercia (757-796 AD). The coinage, struck in Kent, was issued in perfect Arabic Kufic script bearing Qur anic verses referring to the fundamentals of the Islamic faith along with the name of King Offa of Mercia! The coin in question was procured by the Duc de Blacas in Rome sometime before 1841 and has been in the British Museum since 1922. The significance of this archaeological artifact is that it is the first and the only dated coinage of the Anglo-Saxon period. In general Anglo-Saxon coins were not dated and a mixture of kings names, moneyers names and typological sequence has been used to date them. It is surprising that numismatists and historians can be so confident about their dates. While, here we have a coin with an actual date in Islamic Hijra (157 AH / 774 AD).

Further analysis of the coin reveals startling linguistic coincidences which might be of interest to this group. Along with the name of King Offa, the _Bismallah_ is inscribed along with "The Shihada," and Surat "al-Ikhlas," Q.112 (The Islamic Salvation).

1. The term "Ikhlas," from the Arabic root _Khls_, which declares the belief in the unity of God as well as salvation, whole and deliverance; strangely enough when you consider the Old English _hals_, with the same range of meanings, and is commonly found in the religious vocabulary (i.e. Old High German: _heilida_; Old Norse: _heilsa_; and Modern English: _health_)!

2. The first letter of the _Bismallah_ of the _Fatiha Verses_ (the opening verse of the Qur'an), which is the Arabic preposition _Bi_, which is also found in Old English _bi_ ( _by_ in Modern English), with the same identical meaning.

3. The last word in the same verses is _Dalyyin_ Arabic Root of _Dll_; to err, which coincides with the Anglo-Saxon _Dol_ (O.H.Ger _tol_, Gothic _dwal/s_ , in Chaucer _dul_, in 'Orm' _dill_ meaning: _Erring_ and _heretical_)!

Offa's coin is the first and the only dated coinage of the Anglo-Saxon period, bearing only the Islamic date 157 AH (774 AD), along with the name of King Offa. The next English dated coinage appeared 400 years later in the post-Norman period.

In historical documents, exchanged between King Offa and Charlemagne, the coin is referred to as _Mancus_, allegedly from Medieval Latin _MANCUSA_ (first occurrence 785 AD). While in contemporary Islamic coins, under the rule of the Abbasid Khalif Al-Mansur (died 158 AH / 775 AD), the very same type of coins were known as _Manqus_ (root of _NQS_) for their deficiency in weight!

Scholars in playing down this find are not only failing to see the significance of these linguistic evidences and their possible connection with religious vocabulary items in the Germanic dialects, but are also failing to acknowledge that coins in general are a direct and authentic reflection of the political and economic system which produced it; it is therefore perfect evidence for that system if only we can learn how to decode it.

While other coinage of later English periods are displayed in the British Museum with "great pride," this particular "crucial" coin has found itself "hidden away" in the dark recesses of the British Museum's basement storerooms!