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# African origin of King Offa is inferred from a coin with an Arabic inscription
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/offa-757-796-chernyi-korol-anglosaksonskoi-anglii/
- Published: 2023-05-01T05:33:42.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:04:39.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Monarchies, Observations, Mores, Society, People

Offa (757-796), a Black King of Anglo-Saxon England?

This time it is the dynasty of the first kings of the Angles that has been subjected to blackwashing. In particular, the most powerful ruler of Scandinavia and northern Germany, the son of Wermund and grandson of Wihtlæg, a descendant of Odin, is declared to have been dark-skinned.

The supposition that an ancient northern European ruler, sprung from old northern European families, was of African identity rests on a coin bearing the name of King Offa and an Arabic inscription.

Yet one need not be a numismatist to know of the practice whereby foreign coins were reproduced in full in other states, down to the preservation of the design and the inscriptions, even when these remained incomprehensible: they were perceived as a pattern, and in any case the overwhelming majority of people knew no script at all.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_8863@01-05-2023_08-33-42.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_8864@01-05-2023_08-33-42.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_8865@01-05-2023_08-33-42.jpg)