How broad silver pennies developed in Anglo-Saxon England, how Offa's coinage relates to Frankish issues, and what the surviving gold dinar imitation can establish.
Broad silver pennies appeared in Anglo-Saxon England in the 760s, following Frankish models. Offa of Mercia (757–796) issued pennies as part of this wider change rather than inventing the denomination alone. The pre-decimal penny continued in use until decimalisation in 1971; the later decimal penny is a different unit.
The sceatta problem
Sceattas were small silver coins used in early eighth-century England. In Francia, Pepin the Short introduced a denier reform around 755. D. M. Metcalf's study of the transition discusses Frankish coins, including issues in Pepin's name, found in England and their possible influence on the new penny. The cited studies support a Frankish context; they do not by themselves establish a single cause for the English change or a uniform weight comparison across all these coin types.
Broad pennies are attested in Kent by the mid-760s, including issues in the name of King Heaberht; Offa also adopted the format in Mercia. The change in size and style is visible in surviving coins, but claims about its motives or merchants' trust require evidence beyond the objects themselves.
Roman letters nobody could read
Offa's pennies use Roman letters, and some legends are irregular or garbled. Names such as Eoba occur on surviving issues and identify moneyers associated with the coinage, but a moneyer's name is not, by itself, evidence of a formal quality guarantee and does not appear on every coin.
One notable issue names Offa's queen Cynethryth and bears her portrait, with moneyer Eoba's name on the reverse. The British Museum's cited example is dated to around 784–785. The coin documents her place in Mercian coinage; broader conclusions about court politics require more than this one object.
The gold dinar
The British Museum catalogues one surviving gold coin of Offa (registration 1913,1213.1) as an imitation of a dinar dated 157 AH, corresponding to 773–774. It retains Arabic inscriptions and bears OFFA REX across the design. Errors in the copied text are visible, but they do not establish what the die-cutter could read or understand.
The purpose of the coin is uncertain. Trade and a reported gold payment to Pope Adrian I have both been discussed as possible contexts, but the cited object record cannot decide between them. The coin demonstrates the use of an Abbasid dinar as a model; it does not prove where the imitation circulated or how closely English observers understood the Arabic text.
Three coins of the 770s
| Coin | Metal | Issuer and date |
|---|---|---|
| Sceat | Silver, often debased | Various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, early 8th century, replaced through the 760s |
| Broad penny | Fine silver | First in Kent in the mid-760s (Heaberht), then Offa of Mercia; the model is Pepin's Frankish denier of c. 755 |
| Imitation dinar | Gold | Offa; modeled on al-Mansur's dinar of 157 AH; one surviving example is in the British Museum |
The English penny continued through many later designs and monetary systems. The pre-decimal penny ceased to be the unit in 1971; today's decimal penny is not the same denomination.
Sources & References
- British Museum object record 1913,1213.1: the gold imitation dinar of Offa
- British Museum object record 1915,0507.656: silver penny of Queen Cynethryth, moneyer Eoba
- D. M. Metcalf, "Betwixt sceattas and Offa's pence", British Numismatic Journal 79 (2009): the transition to the broad penny
- Marion Archibald, "A sceat of Offa of Mercia", British Numismatic Journal 74 (2004): Offa's early coinage and the Frankish context
- D. M. Metcalf, "Thrymsas and Sceattas in the Collection of the Ashmolean Museum" (1993–94): the standard reference on the earlier coinage
- Art of the Middle Ages: the Offa dinar: al-Mansur's dinar of 773/4 and the OFFA REX inscription
- Image: Offa gold dinar, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
- Image: Offa silver penny, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
The purpose of the gold dinar, the exact dating of the first broad pennies, and the reading of several garbled legends remain subjects of scholarly discussion, and this article presents them as unresolved. Reviewed against these records on 7 September 2026. If a date, figure, or interpretation needs correction, please contact hello@cointoss.uk.