Dinar

Nations in dark green currently use the dinar. Nations in light green previously used the dinar. Yugoslavian states are inset to the lower left.

The dinar or denar is a main currency unit in modern circulation in seven mostly-Islamic and two mostly-Orthodox (Serbia and FYRM) countries, and has historic use in several more.

History

Silver dinar from the reign of Serbian king Stefan Uroš I (1243–1276).

The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (dīnār), which was borrowed via the Syriac dīnarā from the Greek δηνάριον (denárion), itself from the Latin dēnārius.^[1][2] The gold dinar was an early Islamic coin corresponding to the Byzantine denarius auri.^[3] A gold coin known as the dīnāra was also introduced to India by the Kushan Empire in the 1st century AD, and adopted by the Gupta Empire and its successors up to the 6th century.^[4][5] The modern gold dinar is a modern bullion gold coin.

Legal tender

Countries currently using a currency called "dinar" or similar

Umayyad Caliphate Golden Dinar.

Countries	Currency	ISO 4217 code
Algeria	Algerian dinar	DZD
Bahrain	Bahraini dinar	BHD
Iraq	Iraqi dinar	IQD
Jordan	Jordanian dinar	JOD
Kuwait	Kuwaiti dinar	KWD
Libya	Libyan dinar	LYD
Macedonia	Macedonian denar	MKN (1992–1993) MKD (1993− )
Serbia	Serbian dinar	RSD
Tunisia	Tunisian dinar	TND

Countries and regions which have previously used a currency called "dinar"

A mancus or gold dinar of the English king Offa of Mercia (757–796), a copy of the dinars of the Abbasid Caliphate (774). It combines the Latin legend OFFA REX with Arabic legends. (British Museum)

Countries	Currency	ISO 4217 code	Used	Replaced by
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia and Herzegovina dinar	BAD	1992–1998	Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark
Croatia	Croatian dinar	HRD	1991–1994	Croatian kuna
Iran	Iranian rial was divided into at first 1250 and then 100 dinars
Republika Srpska	Republika Srpska dinar	n/a	1992–1998	Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark
South Yemen	South Yemeni dinar	YDD	1965–1990	Yemeni rial
Sudan	Sudanese dinar	SDD	1992–2007	Sudanese pound
Kingdom of Yugoslavia  SFR Yugoslavia  FR Yugoslavia	Yugoslav dinar	YUD (1965–1989) YUN (1990–1992) YUR (1992–1993) YUO (1993) YUG (1994) YUM (1994–2003)	1918–2003	n/a

The 8th century English king Offa of Mercia minted copies of Abbasid dinars struck in 774 by Caliph Al-Mansur with "Offa Rex" centered on the reverse.^[6][7] The moneyer visibly had no understanding of Arabic as the Arabic text contains many errors. Such coins may have been produced for trade with Islamic Spain.

See also

• Currency
• Economy of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
• Islamic gold dinar
• Kelantanese dinar
• List of circulating currencies
• Middle East economic integration

References

1. Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition, 1989, s.v. dinar; online version November 2010
2. Versteegh, C. H. M.; Versteegh, Kees (2001). The Arabic Language. Edinburgh University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-7486-1436-3.
3. Koehler, Benedikt (2014). Early Islam and the Birth of Capitalism. Lexington Books. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-7391-8883-5.
4. Friedberg, Arthur L.; Friedberg, Ira S. (2009). Gold Coins of the World: From Ancient Times to the Present. Coin & Currency Institute. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-87184-308-1.
5. Mookerji, Radhakumud (2007). The Gupta Empire. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 30–31. ISBN 978-81-208-0440-1.
6. British Museum
7. Medieval European Coinage By Philip Grierson p.330

• Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (2003). 2004 Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1901–Present. Colin R. Bruce II (senior editor) (31st ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873495934.
• Malaysia: Kelantan collects Zakat in Shariah money