Ancient Archaic Period - 500-400 BCE Achaemenid Persian Empire AV Daric, NGC XF

This coin is a Persian Daric, a gold coin which, along with the silver Siglos, represents the bimetal coinage of its era. Cyrus the Great introduced coins to the Persian Empire after 546 BC. It was Darius I (521-486 BC) who introduced a thick gold coin with a standard weight of 8.4 grams that equaled the value of 20 silver coins. The Daric presents an image of the Persian king holding a bow in his left hand and a spear in his right. He appears to be wearing a crown upon his head. The gold employed for striking these coins was high grade: it had a purity of 95.83 percent.

Darius I (left) upon his throne. Image: wikimedia.org.