Did you know?

Ibrahim ibn Yaqub (912-966), a traveler from medieval Muslim Spain, wrote: “walking through the bazaar’s of the city of Mainz (Germany), I was struck by two things: the first was that various spices brought from India were sold in this city, and the second was that silver dirhams minted in Samarkand were in circulation in this country.”

From the eighth to the twelfth century AD, the European region was under the influence of Islam. After the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258) took control of the Great Silk Road, established close trade ties with China, Byzantium, the Viking tribes and the Slavs of Northern Europe. At that time, the largest medieval mints existed in the cities of Bukhara, Samarkand and Chach (Tashkent), and in the IX-X centuries silver coins were continuously issued here. These coins quickly found their way to Northern Europe without entering local circulation. Thus, it is safe to say that gold and silver dirhams minted by the caliphate were accepted as an international standard at that time and were in circulation on all trade routes.

Below is an example of a gold coin minted by the King of East England Offa (757-796). The inscriptions on the coin are copied from dirhams of Offa's contemporary Caliph Al-Mansur (754-775). Since the coin was copied fairly accurately, you can read the name of the ruler "Offa Rex" (King Offa) and the numbers 157 AH (773-74). However, it is clear that the stamper did not read Arabic. On the obverse of the coin (Obverse) there are errors in Arabic letters around the Offa inscription. On the reverse side (reverse) the word of the word "Shahada" is written.