TheAchaemenid Empire issued coins from 520 BC–450 BC to 330 BC. The Persiandaric was the firstgold coin which, along with a similar silver coin, thesiglos (fromAncient Greek:σίγλος,Hebrew:שֶׁקֶל,shékel) represented the firstbimetallicmonetary standard.^[5] It seems that before the Persians issued their own coinage, a continuation ofLydian coinage under Persian rule is likely. Achaemenid coinage includes the official imperial issues (Darics and Sigloi), as well as coins issued by the Achaemenid provincial governors (satraps), such as those stationed inAsia Minor.

WhenCyrus the Great (550–530 BC) came to power, coinage was unfamiliar in his realm. Barter, and to some extent silverbullion, was used instead for trade.^[7] The practice of using silver bars for currency also seems to have been current inCentral Asia from the 6th century.^[8]

Cyrus the Great introduced coins to the Persian Empire after 546 BC, following his conquest ofLydia and the defeat of its kingCroesus, whose fatherAlyattes had put in place the first coinage in history.^[7] With his conquest of Lydia, Cyrus acquired a region in which coinage was invented, developed through advanced metallurgy, and had already been in circulation for about 50 years, making the Lydian Kingdom one of the leading trade powers of the time.^[7]

It seems that Cyrus initially adopted the Lydian coinage as such, and continued to strike Lydia's lion-and-bullCroeseid coinage.^[7] Thestater coins had a weight of 10.7 grams, a standard initially created by Croesus, which was then adopted by the Persians and became commonly known as the "Persic standard".^[9] The Persians also minted posthumous Croeseid half-staters, with a weight of 5.35 g, which would become the weight standard for the later Sigloi, introduced at the end of the 6th century BC.^[9][10]

Soon after 546, Cyrus also had full control ofAsia Minor, including other regions suchLycia,Caria orIonia, following the conquests of his generalHarpagus.^[11] With the conquest of Lydia and the adoption of Lydian coinage, the nascent Achaemenid Empire thus obtained access to the most modern coinage of its time and the economic power that goes with it.^[12] The mint was located inSardis, now capital of all the westernsatrapies of the Achaemenid Empire, and continued minted operation under Cyrus.^[12] This coinage would supply the western part of the Achaemenid Empire.^[12]

Technically, these early coins usedincuse punches on the reverse, while the obverse die would consist in some pictorial design ("die and punch" technique, rather than the later "two dies" technique).^[13] The Lydian coins used double punches on the reverse, a technique which would be simplified in the time of Darius by using a single reverse punch on some coinage.^[12] Some of the earliest Lycian coins under the Achaemenids also used an animal design on the obverse and incuse punches on the reverse, which developed into geometrical forms, such as two diagonals between projecting rectangular lugs.^[14][15]

• 
  Coin ofPhaselis, Lycia. Circa 550-530/20 BC
• 
  Coin of Lycia. Circa 520-470/60 BC
• 
  Lycia coin. Circa 520-470 BC. Struck with worn obverse die^[16]
• 
  Coin ofLesbos,Ionia. Circa 510-480 BC
• 
  Lycia coin, with lion andPegasus in circle, circa 480-460 BC

Coin types of the Apadana hoard

GoldCroeseids

Aegina stater

Abdera coin

As late as the time of the foundation of theApadana Palace inPersepolis (dated to between 519 and 510 BC), it seems that the Achaemenids had not yet designed the Sigloi and Darics: no coins of these types were found in theApadana hoard discovered under the palace's foundation stones, whereas the hoard contained several gold Croeseids of the light type from Sardis (probably minted under the rule of Darius I) and several imported Archaic Greek silver staters.^[17]

The coinage of the Achaemenid Empire started to move away from simply copying Lydian coinage, to introducing changes with the reign ofDarius I (ruled 522-486 BC).^[12] Under Darius I, the minting ofCroeseids inSardis was progressively replaced by the minting of Darics and Sigloi.^[12]

From around 510-500 BC,^[12] Darius then simplified the coining procedure by replacing the double reverse punch of Lydian coins, by a single, oblong reverse punch, and he introduced the image of the Persian king in place of the lion and bull design.^[12] This is deduced from the fact that no Darics or Sigloi were found in theApadana hoard, under theApadana foundation stones of theApadana Palace inPersepolis (dated to between 519 and 510 BC), whereas there were gold Croeseids of the light type and Greek silver staters.^[17] But by around 500 BC, a clay tablet, issued in year 22 of the reign of Darius I (circa 500 BC), contained the impression on clay of two Type II Sigloi ("King shooting arrow"), showing that the new Sigloi had already been issued by that date.^[18][19] Because of these and other discoveries, the creation of the Darics and Sigloi is dated to the last decade of the 6th century BC, during the reign ofDarius I.^[17]

The new Achaemenid coins were initially only made in silver, while the Lydian gold design of theCroesus was maintained.^[12] Then Darius introduced his new design for gold coins as well, which came to be known as Darics, fromOld PersianDaruiyaka, meaning "Golden".^[12] Although the Achaemenids had developed their own currency, they still accepted local monetary production including civic issues, throughout the land under their control, in particular inWestern Asia.^[20]

According to numismatistMartin Price, there is no doubt that the Darics and Sigloi of Types I and II were minted atSardis and immediately followed the production of theCroeseids, since they adopted similar weights and were of the same fabric.^[21] He insists that the finds of the Croeseids and the "Archer" types of Darics and Sigloi indicate that they were not an Imperial coinage, but rather the coinage of the Satrapy of Lydia.^[21]

Minting activity

Sardis

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Throughout the period of theAchaemenid Empire, it seems the Darics and Sigloi were exclusively minted inSardis,Lydia (modernTurkey), where they replaced the original production of theCroeseids.^[22]

Although the Achaemenids fully exploited and developed coinage production in Western Asia, it seemsbarter economy remained quite important in the Iranian heartland throughout the Achaemenid period, and the Achaemenids did not develop their own mints in Iran.^[12] At the same time, the circulation of the Daric was mainly confined to the Western part of the Achaemenid Empire.^[12] The minting of coins in Iran would only start later from circa 330 BC underAlexander the Great and theSeleucid Empire.^[12]

It seems that all the minting activity for the Darics and the Sigloi for the whole Empire was essentially centralized in one mint, or possibly two mints, atSardis inLydia.^[23] Sardis remained the central mint for the Persian Darics and Sigloi of Achaemenid coinage, and there is no evidence of other mints for the new Achaemenid coins during the whole time of the Achaemenid Empire.^[22] According to hoard finds, Sardis was clearly the main mint, but there may also have been secondary mints in southwestern and northwesternAsia Minor as well.^[24]

Overall, it seems that the minting of Darics and Sigloi was rather small in quantity compared to the other local productions of coins in Asia Minor, or the circulation of Greek coins in the area.^[25] Although the gold Daric became an international currency which was found throughout the Ancient world, the circulation of the silver Sigloi remained very much limited to Asia Minor: important hoards of Sigloi are only found in these areas, and finds of Sigloi beyond are always very limited and marginal compared to Greek coins, even in Achaemenid territories.^[22]

Standards

Darius introduced the reformedcurrency system from about 510-500 BC,^[12] consisting of gold Darics and silver Sigloi. The rate of exchange was 1 Daric = 20 Siglos. A Daric was between 8.10 and 8.50 grams in weight, based on theBabylonianshekel of 8.33 grams, slightly heavier than the Croesus standard of 8.06 grams.^[12] The purity of gold was between 98 and 99%. 1 Daric = 25AtticDrachmae. It represented initially about 1 month of a soldier's wage.^[27] This new coin became popular throughout all of the ancient world for more than 150 years.^[12] Around 395 BC, the Achaemenids, led by SatrapPharnabazes, bribed Greek states by paying them tens of thousands of Darics in order to attackSparta, which was then waging a campaign of destruction inAsia Minor underAgesilaus II. This started theCorinthian War. According toPlutarch, Agesilaus, the Spartan king, said upon leaving Asia "I have been driven out by 10,000 Persian archers", a reference to "Archers" (Toxotai) the Greek nickname for theDarics from their obverse design, because that much money had been paid to politicians in Athens and Thebes in order to start a war against Sparta.^[28][27][29]

The Siglos was 5.40-5.60 grams each, based on the 0.5 Lydian Siglos of 10.73-10.92 grams for the full unit. Purity was at first issue 97-98% but by the middle 4th century was 94-95%. 1 Siglos = 7.5 AtticObols.

Although the area ofBabylon had never minted Darics or Sigloi, after the capture ofBabylon byAlexander, theSatrapMazaeus, reconfirmed by Alexander in his position for having opened the doors ofBabylon to his armies after theBattle of Gaugamela, issued the double Daric of 16.65 grams in weight whose image was based on the Daric coin and bore his name until his death in 328 BC.^[30]

• 
  Siglos Type I ("King with bow and arrows"), from the time of Darius I. Circa 520-505 BC
• 
  Siglos Type II ("King shooting arrow"), time of Darius I to Xerxes I, circa 505-480 BC
• 
  Siglos Type III ("King running with lance"), from the time ofXerxes and after.
• 
  Siglos Type IV ("King running with dagger"), temp.Artaxerxes II toArtaxerxes III, circa 375-340 BC.

• 
  Type II Daric ("King shooting arrow") temp. Darios I to Xerxes I. Circa 505-480 BC.^[26]
• 
  Daric Type III ("King running with lance") gold coin (mid-4th century BC)
• 
  Daric Type IV ("King running with dagger"), temp.Artaxerxes II toArtaxerxes III, circa 375-340 BC. (15mm, 8.33 g)
• 
  Double Daric minted, well after the conquests ofAlexander the Great, inBabylon circa 322-315 BC.

Design

The "archer" type used in Achaemenid coinage may have been derived from similar and contemporary images on Greek coinage, in particular those ofHerakles shooting arrows.^[31][32] The adaptation of this design for the illustration of the Achaemenid king or hero on the obverse may have been meant as a way to glorify the king, in way a which was easily understandable to the Hellenized people in the Western areas of the Achaemenid Empire, who minted the Achaemenid coinage and to whom this coinage was mainly destined as a currency.^[31][32] Other depictions of the king as an archer (for example shooting from his charriot) are also known fromSumerian art, so this representation would also have been natural to subjects in the Achaemenid realm as well.^[31][32] The "archer" type of Type II, less hieratic and rigid than the traditional Achaemenid illustration of the bust of the king on Type I, may represent the fusion of the Eastern conception of the King as a royal hunter, and the Western conception of the King as a hero, and designed to represent the Achaemenid king as an Olympian contestant in a propaganda effort towards the West.^[31][32] These depictions also imply that the Achaemenids were the first ever to illustrate the person of their king on coinage.^[31]

Extent

In effect, the gold Daric became a currency desired in all the ancient world, since it was the most convenient format to exchange and accumulate wealth.^[23] The Greeks never minted much gold, but their silver Atheniantetradrachms also became a sort of world currency from the 5th century BC.^[23] The first important competition against the prestigious Daric, as a means of storing wealth and making large payments on an international scale, came later fromPhilip II of Macedon (ruled 359–336 BC), when he issued his own gold coinage, pointedly calledDareikos Philippeios by the Greeks.^[23]

Archaeological finds

Daric coins have been found inAsia Minor,Greece,Macedonia andItaly. The Siglos denomination have been found in hoards only in Asia Minor, and single coins with other Greek coinage fromAncient Egypt toAfghanistan (Kabul hoard) andPakistan (Shaikhan Dehri hoard).^[23]

In all the known hoards of the Achaemenid period, royal Achaemenid coinage, such as the sigloi, form actually a small minority, while most of the non-local coinage generally comes from the Greek realm, either from the independent Greek mainland or from the Greek colonies of Western Asia under the Achaemenid rule.^[33] For example, theKabul hoard, in modern-dayAfghanistan, included 30 coins from various Greek cities, about 33Athenian coins and an Iranian imitation of an Athenian coin, only 9 royal Achaemenid silver coins (sigloi). There were also 29 locally minted coins and 14punch-marked coins in the shape of bent bars.^[34][35]

Some Achaemenid satraps are also known to have minted coins in imitation of Athenian coinage, such as the satrap of EgyptSabakes (ruled circa 340-333 BCE). An Achaemenid copy of an Athenian coin, this time found in theKabul hoard, was minted in the vicinity ofBabylon circa 380 BC.

The fact that Greek coins (bothArchaic and early Classical) are comparatively numerous in Achaemenid period coin hoards, much more numerous than sigloi, suggests that the circulation of Greek coinage was central in the monetary system of the Empire.^[36] These coins were probably not legal tenders in the Achaemenid Empire, but were valued for their weight in silver, and thus used asbullion silver. Numerous finds ofhacksilber hoards in the East also exist from the period, in which various silver objects, including coins, are cut into pieces, in order to facilitate their exchange on the basis of their weight.^[37]

Greek coinage travelled throughout the Achaemenid Empire. For example, the Greek coins discovered in theKabul hoard include the following types:

• 
  Archaic coin ofThasos, circa 500-463 BC.^[38]
• 
  Archaic coin ofChios, circa 490-435 BC.^[39]Earlier types known.
• 
  Coin ofAkanthos,Macedon. Circa 470-430 BC.^[40][41]
• 
  Early Classical coins fromAthens were by far the most numerous coin type in the Kabul hoard. Circa 454-404 BC.^[42][41]

The Achaemenid Empire already reached the doors ofIndia during the original expansion ofCyrus the Great, and theAchaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley is dated to circa 515 BC underDarius I.^[7] An Achaemenid administration was established in the area. TheKabul hoard, also called the Chaman Hazouri hoard,^[46] is a coin hoard discovered in the vicinity ofKabul,Afghanistan, containing numerousAchaemenid coins as well as manyGreek coins from the 5th and 4th centuries BC.^[47] The deposit of the hoard is dated to the Achaemenid period, in approximately 380 BC.^[48] The hoard also contained many locally produced silver coins, minted by local authorities under Achaemenid rule.^[25] Several of these issues follow the "western designs" of the facing bull heads, a stag, or Persian column capitals on the obverse, and incuse punch on the reverse.^[25][49]

According to numismatistJoe Cribb, these finds suggest that the idea of coinage and the use of punch-marked techniques was introduced to India from the Achaemenid Empire during the 4th century BC.^[50] More Achaemenid coins were also found inPushkalavati and inBhir Mound.^[51][52]

• 
  Punch-marked coin minted in the Kabul Valley under Achaemenid administration. Circa 500-380 BC, or c.350 BC.^[53][47]
• 
  A siglos found in theKabul valley, 5th century BC. Coins of this type were also found in theBhir Mound hoard.^[54][47]
• 
  Earlypunch-marked coins of Gandhara.Taxila-Gandhara region.

During the 4th century, following the weakening of central Achaemenid power, and the development of coinage technologies, Siglos production receded and numerous satrapal issues of a very high quality started to appear in Western Asia under the Achaemenid Empire.^[25] These issues combined Achaemenid as well as Greek characteristics. Throughout, coin circulation was characterized by a mix of coins from the Achaemenid and Greek realms.^[25]

Various Achaemenid satraps also issued imitations of Athenian tetradrachms, such asSabakes inEgypt.

First attempts at portraiture

Although many of the first coins ofAntiquity were illustrated with the images of various gods or symbols, the first ever portraiture of actual rulers appears with these Achaemenid satrapal issues in the 5th century BC, in particular with the coinage ofLycia.^[55][56] The Achaemenids had been the first to illustrate the person of their king or a hero in a stereotypical manner, showing a bust or the full body, but never an actual portrait, on theirSigloi andDaric coinage from circa 500 BC.^[56][31][32] Before the Lycian coins with dynastic portraits, a slightly earlier candidate for the first portrait isThemistocles, the Athenian general who became a Governor ofMagnesia on the Meander for the Achaemenid Empire circa 465-459 BC,^[57][58] although there is some doubt that his coins may have representedZeus rather than himself.^[59] Themistocles may have been in a unique position in which he could transfer the notion of individualportraiture, already current in the Greek world, and at the same time wield the dynastic power of an Achaemenid dynast who could issue his own coins and illustrate them as he wished.^[60] From the time ofAlexander the Great, portraiture of the issuing ruler would then become a standard, generalized, feature of coinage.^[56]

• 
  Coin ofThemistocles as Achaemenid Governor ofMagnesia.Rev: Letters ΘΕ, initials ofThemistocles. Circa 465-459 BC
• 
  Baaltars on a throne (obverse) and head ofAres (reverse), on a doubleshekel ofPharnabazus II (380-375 BC)
• 
  Coin ofPerikles, last king of Lycia under the Achaemenids. Circa 380-360 BC
• 
  Western Asia Satrap of the Achaemenid Period. ProbablyTiribazos. Early 4th century BC

Coin of Balacrus, as Satrap ofAlexander the Great inCilicia, withBaal on the obverse.Tarsos, 333-323 BC

Tetradrachm ofAlexander the Great with seatedZeus on the reverse,Tarsos,Cilicia, 323 BC.

After his conquest of theAchaemenid Empire,Alexander the Great established his own satraps in the conquered territories, some of them Achaemenids who had been favorable to the invader, such asMazaios, others some of Alexander's closest supports, such asBalacrus. Several satraps continued to use an Achaemenid type for their coinage, such asBalacrus when he became Hellenistic satrap ofCilicia, complete with the local deity of Tarsus,Baal.^[61] This coinage is said to have later influenced Alexander's imperial coinage, which was often minted in the same mints.^[61]

Even many years after the death of Alexander, Achaemenid gold darics continued to be minted inBabylon, at the same time as Alexandrine imperial issues were minted. Some of these issues are dated to circa 315-300/298 BC. These darics continued to use the Achaemenid type, but the reverse was slightly modified to include wavy patterns.^[62][63]

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• Bopearachchi, Osmund (2000),"Coin Production and Circulation in Central Asia and North-West India (Before and after Alexander's Conquest)",Indologica Taurinensia,25, International Association of Sanskrit Studies
• Bopearachchi, Osmund (2017),"Achaemenids and Mauryans: Emergence of Coins and Plastic Arts in India", in Alka Patel; Touraj Daryaee (eds.),India and Iran in the Longue Durée, UCI Jordan Center for Persian Studies, pp. 15–48
• Bopearachchi, Osmund; Cribb, Joe (1992), "Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia", in Errington, Elizabeth; Cribb, Joe; Claringbull, Maggie (eds.),The Crossroads of Asia: transformation in image and symbol in the art of ancient Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ancient India and Iran Trust, pp. 56–59,ISBN 978-0-9518399-1-1
• Cribb, Joe (1983),"Investigating the introduction of coinage in India - A review of recent research",Journal of the Numismatic Society of India:80–101
• Cribb, J. (1985),"Dating India's Earliest Coins", in J. Schotsmans; M. Taddei (eds.),South Asian Archaeology, 1983: Proceedings from the Seventh International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologistan in Westeren Europe Held in the Musees Royaux d'art et d'histoire, Brussels, Naples: Istituto Universario Orientale, pp. 535–554
• Eggermont, Pierre Herman Leonard (1975),Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan and the Siege of the Brahmin Town of Harmatelia, Peeters Publishers,ISBN 978-90-6186-037-2
• Kagan, J. (2009),"Archaic Greek Coins East of the Tigris: Evidence for Circulation"(PDF),Proceedings of the XIVth International Numismatic Congress, Glasgow, pp. 230–234^{[permanent dead link]}

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