October 20, 2023
If you are interested in ancient coins, you may have heard of the Persian daric and siglos. These were the gold and silver coins issued by the Achaemenid Empire, which ruled over a vast territory from 550 to 330 BC. The daric and siglos were the first bimetallic monetary standard in history, meaning that they had a fixed exchange rate between them. One daric was worth 20 sigloi, and both coins had a high purity of metal. The daric and siglos were widely used for trade and commerce throughout the Persian Empire and beyond, and they influenced the coinage of many other regions and peoples.
The origin of the name "daric" is disputed. Some believe that it is derived from the name of Darius I, one of the most powerful and influential kings of Persia. Others believe that it is derived from the Old Persian word "dara", meaning "gold". The daric weighed about 8.4 grams and had a simple design: on the obverse, it showed the king or a hero in a kneeling-running stance, holding a bow and a spear; on the reverse, it had an incuse punchmark, which was left by the tool used to strike the coin. The daric was a symbol of Persian power and prestige, and it was often imitated by other rulers who wanted to show their alliance or emulation of Persia. The daric was also mentioned in the Old Testament as a unit of weight and value.
The siglos was the silver counterpart of the daric, and it weighed about 5.4 grams. It had a similar design as the daric, except that the king or hero held only a bow, and there was no quiver of arrows on his back. The siglos was also based on an older coinage of Lydia, a kingdom in Asia Minor that was conquered by Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire. The Lydians were the first people to invent coinage, and they used a lion-and-bull motif on their coins. Cyrus adopted this coinage as his own, and later modified it to suit his Persian style.
The daric and siglos were minted in Sardis, the capital of Lydia and the western satrapies of Persia. They were used to pay taxes, tribute, salaries, and mercenaries throughout the empire. They were also accepted as legal tender by many neighboring states and peoples, such as the Greeks, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Indians, and Scythians. The daric and siglos were admired for their beauty, quality, and reliability, and they became a model for many other coinages in antiquity.
The daric was so widely used that it became known colloquially as the "archer" (toxotai in Greek), due to the image of the archer on the obverse of the coin. This is similar to how Americans sometimes refer to dollars as "bucks" or British people refer to pounds as "quid". The siglos, on the other hand, did not have a common colloquial name.
The daric and siglos are among the most important and fascinating coins in history. They reflect the culture, politics, economy, and religion of the Achaemenid Empire, which was one of the largest and most diverse empires ever. They also tell us about the interactions and exchanges between Persia and other civilizations in the ancient world. They are coins with historical significance that deserve our attention and appreciation.