Stater

Tarsos operated as a semi-autonomous satrapal mint under Achaemenid Persian administration during this period, issuing its own coinage while remaining firmly within the Persian imperial orbit. The city sat on the main route connecting the Anatolian interior to the Levantine coast, and its mint supplied silver to a merchant and military economy that moved constantly through the Cilician Gates. Persian satraps used locally-struck coins partly to pay troops, partly to manage tribute obligations without shipping bullion to Persepolis.

The GCV 5629 type falls within a series attributed to Cilician dynasts whose exact identities remain debated — the numismatic literature assigns several overlapping issues to this window with no firm resolution on die sequence.