Persian Daric

About Persian Daric

The gold coin of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Featured a kneeling king holding a bow and spear. Named after Darius the Great who introduced the coinage. Weighed about 8.4 grams of pure gold. The daric was used to pay Greek mercenaries, who then used them to fund wars against Persia. The Greeks called them toxotai, the archers, because of the bow design. Darius III paid Alexander the Greats army in darics after his defeat.