Nations in dark green currently use a currency known as the dinar. Nations in light green previously used a dinar. States offormer Yugoslavia appear in the inset to the lower left.
Thedinar (/dɪˈnɑːr/,/ˈdiːnɑː(r)/) is the name of the principalcurrency unit in several countries near theMediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of theArabicدينار (dīnār), which was possibly borrowed via theSyriacdīnarā from theLatindēnārius.[1][2] or from the Arabic rootdäyn meaning debt.
TheKushan Empire introduced a gold coin known as thedīnāra in India in the 1st century AD; theGupta Empire and its successors up to the 6th century adopted the coin.[3][4]
The 8th-century English kingOffa of Mercia mintedimitations ofAbbasid dinars struck in 774 by Caliphal-Mansur with "Offa Rex" centred on the reverse.[5][6] Themoneyer likely had no understanding ofArabic as the Arabic text contains many errors. Such coins may have been produced for trade withIslamic Spain. These coins are called aMancus, which is also derived from theArabic language.[7]
