Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Triton XVIII Sessions 1 & 2 6 January 2015
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PERSIA, Achaemenid Empire. temp. Darios III. Circa 333-331 BC. AV Double Daric (20mm, 16.35 g). Babylon mint. Persian king or hero, wearing kidaris and kandys, quiver over shoulder, in kneeling-running stance right, holding dagger in right hand, bow in left / Patterned incuse punch. Carradice Type IV Late (pl. XV, 54); Meadows, Administration –; BMC Arabia pl. XX, 1; Sunrise 38 (this coin). VF. Extremely rare issue without control marks, only the BM piece is published.
From the Sunrise Collection, purchased from Jonathan Kern, 2005.
Carradice lists this issue among all the late double darics that he attributes as Alexandrine issues. Nicolet-Pierre, in her article on the Alexandrine gold and silver at Babylon, though, does not mention any Type IV Late double darics, only pieces similar to Type III, where the king/hero holds a spear. Both the present and BMC examples show no sign of supplemental markings that are present on the Alexandrine coinage, and the style is closer to the standard darics of this type that Carradice gives to the time of Artaxerxes II to Darios III. Thus, it is possible that this was a very late, if not the last, Achaemenid issue, just prior to the defeat of Darios III. It probably was struck at the same Babylonian mint that later issued the double darics under Alexander, and may have been set up to provide coinage to the Persian king in Babylonia, as his western mints were no longer under his control. Regardless of whether this issue was made under Darios or Alexander, it is doubtless from the first coinage struck in Babylon.
From the Sunrise Collection, purchased from Jonathan Kern, 2005.
Carradice lists this issue among all the late double darics that he attributes as Alexandrine issues. Nicolet-Pierre, in her article on the Alexandrine gold and silver at Babylon, though, does not mention any Type IV Late double darics, only pieces similar to Type III, where the king/hero holds a spear. Both the present and BMC examples show no sign of supplemental markings that are present on the Alexandrine coinage, and the style is closer to the standard darics of this type that Carradice gives to the time of Artaxerxes II to Darios III. Thus, it is possible that this was a very late, if not the last, Achaemenid issue, just prior to the defeat of Darios III. It probably was struck at the same Babylonian mint that later issued the double darics under Alexander, and may have been set up to provide coinage to the Persian king in Babylonia, as his western mints were no longer under his control. Regardless of whether this issue was made under Darios or Alexander, it is doubtless from the first coinage struck in Babylon.