Neil S Berman - Expert Numismatist & Gold Coin Dealer

Gold Coins Trade through History

Persian Gold Daric

Persian Gold Daric was a gold coin used within and around the Persian Empire, some minted inside the city of Ecbatana. The Daric may well have been the worlds first gold trade coin, particularly if the Lydian Stater was a localized issue. The word Daric appears to be derived from the Persian word zarig, which means gold. This coin was probably first made by Darius I, King of Persia between 486BC and 515BC, depending on the source of the information.

The gold Daric was bean-shaped and more than four millimeters thick.  It was about fifteen millimeters in diameter and weighed just over eight grams. The obverse features the king kneeling holding a bow and arrow or running and holding a bow and spear.  The reverse design is simply that of the counter punch of the die.  The coin was in use as the major gold trade coin in what we now call Asia Minor, as far north as Greece or modern Albania and as far south as modern day Gaza, for about one hundred eighty-five years years. The coins production ended with Alexander the Great’s successful invasion in 330BC, at which time the coin was replace by the Macedonian Gold Stater.