I've recently bought this silver siglos, mainly because the comical depiction of the king: Silver siglos of king Darius (ca. 375-330 BC). Obs: king running to right, with bow and arrows. Obv: incuse. 3 marks. I'm quite uncertain about the dating (this is the information the seller provided). Please post your stressed-out kings!
Nice siglos, @Roerbakmix ! Some recent scholarship (e.g. Nicolas Corfú: A New Thesis for Siglos and Dareikos, 2011) argues that the Persian sigloi and dareikoi do not constitute Achaemenid imperial coinage but local issues of a mint in the satrapy of Lydia, probably Sardis. I don't have the background knowledge to fully assess this thesis, but Corfú's evidence and argument appear coherent and convincing to me. Are there any opinions or insights on this here on Cointalk? My sigloi are still filed as "Achaemenid Empire" according to Carradice, but I am following the debate and expect that I'll have to rewrite some tags soon... To keep this post visually appealing, here are some of mine. This one I simply love although it is a fourrée (the weight and a tiny spot on the edge give it away): Artaxerxes II – Darius III, Achaemenid Empire, fourrée siglos, ca. 375–336 BC. Obv: Great King kneeling left, holding dagger and bow, three pellets on chest. Rev: irregular punch. 14.4mm, 4.92g. Ref: Carradice 1987, type IV C (prototype). Here is one I bought from @Ken Dorney because of the interestingly irregular flan as well as the comical look of the Great King – look at that mouth! Darius II – Artaxerxes II, Achaemenid Empire, siglos, ca. 420–375 BC. Obv: Great King kneeling r., holding dagger and bow. Rev: oblong punch, test punches. 19mm, 5.22g. Ref: Carradice 1987, type IV B. Ex Ken Dorney. Finally, I got this one, which is not in great shape, because of the variety of different banker's marks. Call me a fool, but I am intrigued by such things: Xerxes I – Artaxerxes II, Achaemenid Empire, siglos, ca. 485–375 BC. Obv: Great King kneeling left, holding transverse spear and bow, numerous banker's marks. Rev: irregular punch. 15mm, 5.43g. Ref: Carradice 1987, type III B. Ex Savoca, Blue Auction 14, lot 495.
Darios I to Xerxes II, Achaemenid Empire AR siglos Obv: Persian king/hero in kneeling-running stance right, holding spear and bow Rev: Incuse punch Mint: Sardes Date: 485-420 BC Ref: Carradice Type IIIb
@Orielensis thanks for the article, link provided for others interested. Here's my Type IIIb with a long beard and some marks or test cuts. .
For the record we might note that these come in several fractional denominations as well as the sigloi which probably seem small enough to most people. The example below is a Type II, 1/6th siglos (I think) and fourree. My smallest is a Type IV, 1/24.
ACHAEMENID PERSIA: Persia Achaemenid Empire Darius I 510-486 BCE AR 0.11g 5mm 1/32nd Siglos Persian hero-king in running incuse Klein 758 Rare Persia Achamenid Type III spear over shoulder Darius I to Xerxes II Ca 485-420 BCE AR Siglos Bankers Marks Incuse rev Persia Achamenid Type IV dagger quiver running Darius I to Xerxes II 455-420 BCE AR QUARTER-Siglos 1.35g 8mm Incuse rev Achaemenid Xerxes II to Artaxerxes II 420-375 BCE AR siglos 16 mm 5.14 g Persian king running spear bow - incuse Carradice Type IIIb C pl XIV 42) Sunrise 25 Persia Achamenid Type IV Artaxerxes II to Daris III (The ShahanShah who lost the Empire to Alexander III) 375-336 BCE AR siglos 15.2mm 5.45g running stance r daggar bow incuse BMC 172ff rev This is the Satrap that ALMOST killed Alexander III of Makedon (later the Great) at the Battle of Granicus. Instead Cleitus lopped off his arm just as Spithradates was lowering his scimitar onto Alexander: Persia Spithridates Achaemenid satrap of Sparda-Lydia and Ionia- 334 BCE AE10 1.20g wearing Persian headdress - Forepart galloping horse r Klein 367, Cop 1538 Persia Achaemenid Empire 4th C BCE FOURREE 15mm Siglos Persian hero-king in running incuse
DARIC PERSIA Achaemenid Daris I-Xerxes II 485-420 BC AV Daric 14mm 8.3g LydoMilesian Sardes king wearing kidaris kandys quiver spear bow Incuse Carr Type IIIb Group A-B pl XIII 27 TETARTEMORION CILICIA Uncertn Early-mid 4th C BCE AR Tetartemorion 5mm 0.17g Persian king running dagger and bow - Crowned hd Achaemenid king CNG E239 Troxell Kagan 4
That funny-looking Persian king also shows up on some bronze issues. Here he is on a bronze from an uncertain mint in Asia Minor: And you can spot him in the passenger seat of the chariot on this Phoenician bronze:
Whaho ho! @algegandron breaking out da big guns with the daric. BEA utiful! And cool coin @Roerbakmix! Thanks so much for posting that data and article @Orielensis and @Sulla80. Admittedly it is disappointing for me to read. But the data posted certainly suggests that these were NOT made for nor by the Achaemenid kings. "433 Sigloi out of about 15,000 Sigloi with testified find-spots found in parts of the Achaemenid empire with coin use outside the satrapy of Lydia." If true, seems pretty damning evidence to what I've been led to believe. Nothing like those poor folks who bought bronze "Egyptian" coins of Ebz 2...that turned out to more likely be some podunk place in Persia. But still, disappointing. As I've always imagined these to be the coins of the invincible armies that gave the Greeks such Hell and went to battle, and lost, with ATG. Anyway, here's some funny Achaemenid/Lydian(?) coins that I have acquired: ???(To be continued)
I would like to read the article by Nicolas Corfú, but do not wish to sacrifice my privacy to do it. Anyone got a link to a copy I can read without signing away my rights to liberty? However, anyone interested in the topic needs to understand that the chain of scholarship does not merely go back to Ian Carradice. The most monumental study of this material was last done by Ernest Babelon about the time he became Keeper of the Department of Medals and Antiquities at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Babelon published Les Perses Achéménides les Satrapes et les Dynastes Tributaires de Leur Empire Cypre & Phénicie (a work of 412 pages plus a separate volume of plates) in 1893, prior to his monumental Traités des Monnaies Grecques et Romaines. In the generations since then it has been updated by newer scholarship by not surpassed in its depth. To my knowledge it has not been translated from the French. That suggests to me that today any translation would require a substantial rewrite as well, but the field is apparently not broad enough to get that. Nonetheless, Babelon's work has been the jumping off point for other significant work by George Hill, Harold Mattingly, Sydney Noe, Martin Jessop Price, (all mostly in short pieces or references in larger works) and of course Ian Carradice whose typological study is best known to most readers at this site. That mountain of scholarship cannot be dismissed without a read, but I would very much like to know how Corfu's work will add to all of that. So if someone can give me a less compromising link to it, please do.
