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Siglos - Artaxerxes II to Artaxerxes III
| Issuer | Achaemenid Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 375 BC - 340 BC |
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| Currency | Daric (521 BC-330 BC) |
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| Obverse description | The Persian Great King or royal hero depicted in right-facing kneeling-running pose, wearing the distinctive kidaris (royal tiara) and kandys (court robe), with a quiver visible over the right shoulder. The figure holds a dagger in the raised right hand and a strung bow in the extended left hand, conveying a posture of regal martial prowess. The relief is rendered in the characteristic Achaemenid stylized manner, with finely incised hatching on the robe suggesting rich textile ornamentation. The field is unadorned, with no legend or inscription, consistent with Achaemenid coinage convention. The flan is irregular in outline, as typical of hand-struck Persian silver issues of this period. |
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| Mintage | ND (375 BC - 340 BC) |
| Additional information |
The siglos was the standard silver coin of the Achaemenid Persian Empire for roughly two centuries, yet the type changed almost not at all — the same imagery repeated across reigns with a conservatism that was almost certainly deliberate policy. Artaxerxes II presided over a weakened empire following the revolt of Cyrus the Younger in 401 BC, the march of the Ten Thousand, and decades of costly conflict with Sparta, yet the coinage projected unbroken continuity throughout. His successor Artaxerxes III briefly reversed Persian decline, reconquering Egypt in 343 BC after decades of independence — the last Persian pharaoh ruling there before Alexander ended everything.
Sigloi circulated widely in Anatolia and the Levant but were notoriously absent from Persian domestic commerce, which ran largely on weighed bullion and commodity exchange. Greek mercenaries were among their most consistent recipients.