Offa was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in July 796. Offa was famous because of his Dyke and Gold coins contained Arabic writing. The design of these coins was 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.
