Ancient Archaic Period - 420-375 BCE Achaemenid Persian Empire AV Daric NGC Choice AU

Strike 5/5; Surface 4/5. Minted during the reigns of Xerxes II to Artaxerxes II, Sardis mint. Persian king or hero, wearing cidaris and candys, quiver over shoulder, in kneeling-running stance right, drapery in angular form from left knee to ground, right knee obscured by drapery, transverse spear in right hand, bow forward in left / Irregular rectangular incuse punch. Carradice Type IIIb, Group A/B. Sunrise 24. Well struck from slightly worn dies. The Achaemenid Empire is also known as the First Persian Empire, which was established by Cyrus the Great. The Persian Daric was the first gold coin, and along with a similar silver siglos, represented the first bimetallic monetary standard in history. It was around 510-500 BCE that the current image first appeared upon Persian gold coinage. At that time the Persian king replaced the lion and bull design. (15mm, 8.34 gm).

Ruins of the Byzantine Greek shops and gymnasium at Sardis, the city in which this coin was minted.

The obverse presents a Persian king, wearing cidaris and candys, quiver over shoulder, in kneeling-running stance right, drapery in angular form from left knee to ground, right knee obscured by drapery, transverse spear in right hand, bow forward in left. The reverse carries an incuse rectangular punch. It was Darius I who introduced this design for gold coins, which came to be known as 'Darics,' from Old Persian Daruiyaka ("golden"). These coins were minted in Sardis, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey, Maisa Province). Darics and other coins minted in Sardis only circulated in the Western regions of the Achaemenid Empire, for there was no mint in the East. According to ancient sources, the Lydians were the inventors of gold coinage. Gold mining was in the area of Mount Tmolus, and the gold ore was brought to Sardis via the Pactolus and Hermus rivers.