Daric - Darius I / Artaxerxes II THE ROYAL COINAGE - 3rd type

The daric takes its name almost certainly from Darius I, who standardized this coinage system around 515 BC as part of a broader administrative reform that gave provincial satraps a reliable medium for tribute collection and military pay. Greek mercenaries fighting for Persian commanders were routinely paid in darics — Xenophon's Ten Thousand, retreating through Anatolia after the disaster at Cunaxa in 401 BC, knew this coin intimately. The 3rd type spans the long administrative stretch from the Persian Wars through the reign of Artaxerxes II, meaning examples from this issue were in circulation when Greek city-states were bribed with Persian gold to shift their alliances during the Corinthian War.