weight 5,19gr. | silver ca. Ø 13mm.
Carradice type II
obv. Persian king with beard and wearing crown kneeling right,
shooting arrow from bow and with quiver at back
rev. Oblong incuse punch
After Kroisos was defeated by Cyrus II of Persia, the Lydian kingdom, including the rich city of Sardis, fell to the Persian Empire, ruled by the Achaemenid dynasty. Cyrus II had two sons Cambyses II and Smerdis. After Cyrus′s death in 530 BC. he was succeeded by Cambyses II. He had Smerdis, his brother and rival, murdered and had his body hidden in secret. Somehow the Persian magician Gaumata had found out about this. When Cambyses II stayed abroad during a trip, Gaumata took his chance. Gaumata pretended to be Smerdis, whom he bore great resemblance to, and overthrew Cambyses. After seven months the deception was revealed by one of his harem women and Smerdis was put to death. On the way to retake his throne, Cambyses II died. He had no legal heirs. In the end, the Persian nobles chose Darius I, a distant relative of Cyrus I, as their new king. His rule started september 521 BC. That turned out to be a lucky choice, because Darius turned out to be a good administrator and organizer with also good military capabilities. He would go down in history as ′Darius the Great′. He also introduced a new coinage system based on the dareikos. In theory, those coins should be valid throughout his Empire, but from archeology we know that those coins circulated mainly in the western parts of his Empire, especially in Asia Minor. There they were also struck, namely at Sardis. In addition to being king of Persia, he was also Pharaoh of Egypt. After his death in 485 BC succeeded by his son Xerxes.
BMC Arabia, page 173, 185 | SNG.Copenhagen 280
Carradice in BAR 343(1987), type II, Pl.XI, 11-13 | Sear 3428
Noe Sigloi, plate XIII, 215 | Winzer 1.6 | Asyut Hoard 714
Mitchiner ATAEC 1936 | Kayhan - | Rosen - | Winzer 1.6 R
f/vf
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