page_title: Achaemenid coinage
section_title: Darics and Sigloi
hierarchical_section_title: Achaemenid coinage / Darics and Sigloi
caption_attribution_description: English: PERSIA, Achaemenid Empire. temp. Darios I to Xerxes I. Circa 505-480 BC. AV Daric (14mm, 8.32 g)
context_page_description: Coins of the Achaemenid Empire were issued from 520 BCE–450 BCE to 330 BCE. The Persian daric was the first gold coin which, along with a similar silver coin, the siglos, represented the bimetallic monetary standard of the Achaemenid Persian Empire which has continued until today. It seems that before then, a continuation of Lydian coinage under Persian rule was highly likely. Achaemenid coinage includes the official imperial issues, as well as coins issued by the Achaemenid governors, such as those stationed in ancient Asia Minor.
context_section_description: The coinage of the Achaemenid Empire started to move away from simply copying Lydian coinage, to introducing changes with the reign of Darius I (ruled 522-486 BC). Under Darius I, the minting of Croeseids in Sardis was progressively replaced by the minting of Darics and Sigloi. 
  From around 510-500 BC, 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. This is deduced from the fact that no Darics or Sigloi were found in the Apadana hoard, under the Apadana foundation stones of the Apadana Palace in Persepolis (dated to between 519 and 510 BC), whereas there were gold Croeseids of the light type and Greek silver staters. But by around 500 BCE, a clay tablet, issued in year 22 of the reign of Darius I (circa 500 BCE), 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. 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 of Darius I.
  The new Achaemenid coins were initially only made in silver, while the Lydian gold design of the Croesus was maintained. Then, Darius introduced his new design for gold coins as well, which came to be known as Darics, from Old Persian Daruiyaka, meaning "Golden". 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 in Western Asia.
  According to numismat Martin Price, there is no doubt that the Darics and Sigloi of Types I and II were minted at Sardis and immediately followed the production of the Croeseids, since they adopted similar weights and were of the same fabric. 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.
  Minting activity
  Although the Achaemenids fully exploited and developed coinage production in Western Asia, it seems barter economy remained quite important in the Iranian heartland throughout the Achaemenid period, and the Achaemenids did not develop their own mints in Iran. At the same time, the circulation of the Daric was mainly confined to the Western part of the Achaemenid Empire.The minting of coins in Iran would only start later from circa 330 BCE under Alexander the Great and the Seleucid Empire. 
  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 at Sardis in Lycia. 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. According to hoard finds, Sardis was clearly the main mint, but there may also have been secondary mints in southwestern and northwestern Asia Minor as well.
  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. 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.
  Standards
  Darius introduced the reformed currency system from about 510-500 BC, consisting of gold Darics and silver Sigloi. The rate of exchange was 1 Daric = 20 Siglos. A Daric was between 8.10-8.50 grams in weight, based on the Babylonian shekel of 8.33 grams, slightly heavier than the Croesus standard of 8.06 grams. The purity of gold was between 98-99%. 1 Daric = 25 Attic Drachmae. It rep
caption: Type II Daric ("King shooting arrow") temp. Darios I to Xerxes I. Circa 505-480 BC. There are no Type I coins known in Darics (only in Sigloi).[26]
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