Ancient Coins from the Source: Curated Highlights from MA-Shops
By Joël van Dam, Owner of Joëlnumismatics for MA-Shops.com ……
Typical Design of Persian coins
The conquest of Cyrus of the Lydian Kingdom in the 540s BCE and of Babylonia in the 530s BCE extended the area of his power enormously beyond Iran. His son, Cambyses II (530-522 BCE), didn’t stop conquering other areas: he conquered Cyrene, Egypt and parts of Nubia.
Siglos Carradice – Achaemenid empire
Weight: 5.42 g
Diameter: 16.00 mm
700.00 US$
Under Darius the Great (522-485 BCE), the Achaemenid Empire reached from the Indus River in the east, to Thrace and Macedonia in the Northwest, and from Syr Darya in Central Asia to Nubia in Africa. The coins of the Persian empire appeared in their own style for the first time before 500 BCE.
Here below are other examples of coins of the Persian empire:
Greek Persia – Darius II – Artaxerxes II
423 – 359. AV Daric, about 400 BC. King with a lance and bow r. / irregular incusum
2,550.00 US$
They probably adopted the whole idea of coins from the Lydian Kingdom who invented coinage as we know it in the western world. They converted this Lydian invention to their own traditions. Two main denominations appeared: the silver Sigoloi and the gold Darics. The coins of the Persians are very typical in their design. On their static iconography you can see the king himself in a variety of warlike poses. Nevertheless, it must be remind that these coins weren’t the only coins which circulated in the Persian empire. One of many examples is that there is evidence that on Persian authority imitations of the well-known Athenian tetradrachm are minted[1]
Persian Imperial Coinage, Daric
The Great King kneeling r., holding bow and spear
1,850.00 US$
Notes
[1] Weisser, B. (2006). “Herrscherbild und Münzporträt in Kleinasien.” In Historisches Museum der Pfalz Speyer: 71–85.
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About MA-Shops
MA-Shops is an internet marketplace headquartered in Europe. MA-Shops has assembled a network of reputable coin dealers – both large and small – onto one, easy-to- use platform to sell coins, paper currency, medals, military orders and stamps directly to the collector. Founded by German engineer Joachim Schwiening in 2005, MA- Shops is now the leading ”online collector mall” worldwide. Browsing through the site quickly reveals how wide and variegated the selection from MA-Shops and its associated dealers really is. In recent months, Schwiening and MA-Shops have made a concerted push into the American market.
