Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3030 5-6 January 2014
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PERSIA. Achaemenid Empire. Darius I - Xerxes I (ca. 505-480 BC). AV daric (15mm, 8.33 gm). Great King in kneeling-running stance right, drawing back bow and preparing to shoot arrow / Rectangular incuse punch with irregular interior surface. Carradice Type II (pl. XI, 11). Meadows, Administration 319. Sunrise Collection 19. Rare early issue! Well struck and nicely centered on a nice, oval flan. One of the finest examples extant. NGC MS 4/5 - 4/5. The Achaemenid Persian Empire was the first long-lasting multinational state and in many ways the prototype for the Hellenistic and Roman Empires that followed. After the conquest of the Lydian Kingdom circ a 546 BC, the Achaemenids quickly adopted the Lydian concept of coinage and converted the recently invented gold stater into a new denomination, the daric, named after the Persian Great King Darius. Darics depicted a stylized image of the Great King in a martial pose. The second phase of the Daric coinage, seen here, depicts the Great King kneeling and drawing a bow, preparing to shoot an arrow. Later issues somewhat simplified the design and show the King holding a spear and bow, or a bow and dagger. Phase II darics were almost impossible to obtain until a small number appeared on the market recently. This Extremely Fine example, graded Mint State by NGC, must rank as one of the finest of the type known.
Estimate: 14000-16000 USD
PERSIA. Achaemenid Empire. Darius I - Xerxes I (ca. 505-480 BC). AV daric (15mm, 8.33 gm). Great King in kneeling-running stance right, drawing back bow and preparing to shoot arrow / Rectangular incuse punch with irregular interior surface. Carradice Type II (pl. XI, 11). Meadows, Administration 319. Sunrise Collection 19. Rare early issue! Well struck and nicely centered on a nice, oval flan. One of the finest examples extant. NGC MS 4/5 - 4/5. The Achaemenid Persian Empire was the first long-lasting multinational state and in many ways the prototype for the Hellenistic and Roman Empires that followed. After the conquest of the Lydian Kingdom circ a 546 BC, the Achaemenids quickly adopted the Lydian concept of coinage and converted the recently invented gold stater into a new denomination, the daric, named after the Persian Great King Darius. Darics depicted a stylized image of the Great King in a martial pose. The second phase of the Daric coinage, seen here, depicts the Great King kneeling and drawing a bow, preparing to shoot an arrow. Later issues somewhat simplified the design and show the King holding a spear and bow, or a bow and dagger. Phase II darics were almost impossible to obtain until a small number appeared on the market recently. This Extremely Fine example, graded Mint State by NGC, must rank as one of the finest of the type known.
Estimate: 14000-16000 USD