Chalkous - temp. Artaxerxes III / Darius III

These small copper pieces were struck in the final decades of Achaemenid control over the Ionian coastal cities, a period defined less by administrative stability than by the slow-motion collapse of Persian authority in western Anatolia. Artaxerxes III had spent the 340s brutally reasserting control over rebellious satraps and reconquering Egypt, leaving the western satrapies to manage local coinage with considerable autonomy. By the time Darius III came to the throne in 336 BC, Alexander's crossing was less than two years away.

The attribution spanning both reigns reflects genuine uncertainty in the die sequence rather than careless cataloging.