iBelgica
Lansky Auction 4 10 Jun 2021
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Persia. Time of Darius I to Xerxes II. Sardes. 485-420 BC. AV Daric (8.38g). BMC 12; SNG Copenhagen 276. Old cabinet tone. Good very fine. From a private collection, acquired from Münzen & Medaillen, Basel, 1982
The ancient Greeks believed that the term 'daric' derived from the name of Darius, who is said to have introduced this coinage. However, due to their type, they were also nicknamed 'archers'; whence the saying of Agesilaus that he had been driven from Asia by 30,000 archers... simply the price of the Persian bribery at Athens and Thebes