1G6 A. Cunningham —Relics from Ancient Persia. [No. 3, 
weight of the siglos to be 86*45 grains, the Daric should be 86* '5 x -f-f = 
331 grains exactly. He gets the lower weight by taking the rate of silver 
at 13*3 instead of 13 as distinctly stated by Herodotus, and as actually 
used by the historian in his reductions. 
I have taken the normal weight of the Daric as 134*4 grains, or exactly 
equal to the Attic stater by raising it from the ascertained weight of the 
Persian siglos of silver. I will now compare the actual Darics that have 
come down to us with a number of Attic staters. For this purpose I have 
examined the catalogues and descriptions of nine different collections, from 
which I find that 21 staters of Philip, 42 of Alexander, 3 of Arrhidseus and 
12 of Lysimachus, or altogether 78 Attic staters give an average weight of 
132*11 grains. Taking the normal Attic stater at 134*4 grains, the average 
loss of these 78 staters is 2*29 grains. With these staters we may compare 
125 Darics, which formed part of a hoard of 300 found in the canal of 
Xerxes. The average weight of these 125, as ascertained by H. P. Borrell, 
was 123*4 grains, while many of the heavier pieces reached 132 grains.* 
Now adding a loss of 2 23 grains to 129 4, we get 131*69 as the approxi¬ 
mate normal weight of the Daric. But as many of the best pieces actually 
weighed 132 grains I think that the normal weight of the Daric may fairly 
be placed as high as 133 grains. It appears also from Hussey’s examina¬ 
tion of the gold staters in the British Museum and other collections that 
the average weight of 71 staters of Philip, Alexander and Lysimachus was 
a little over 132 grains, the heaviest only reaching 133 grains.f It must 
be remembered also that the Museum coins are selected specimens, chosen 
specially for the goodness of their preservation. I believe therefore that if 
a similar selection of the choicest specimens had been made from the 300 
Darics found in the canal of Xerxes, their average weight would most pro¬ 
bably have also reached 132 grains. 
The Daric was divided into 20 silver shekels, or sigli , just as the Eng¬ 
lish sovereign is divided into 20 shillings. The weight of the siglos itself 
has already been discussed. But the multiples and divisions of the siglos 
have hitherto received but little attention from numismatists with reference 
to their value. For the sake of mere convenience it seems almost certain 
that there must have been a quarter Daric piece either of gold or of silver. 
No gold coin of this value has yet been found, but there is a considerable 
number of large silver pieces weighing from 396 up to 438*5 grains which 
are certainly quarter Darics in value, whatever their name may have been. 
I have a record of the weights of 22 of these coins, of which the five heaviest 
average 426*66 grains, the maximum weight being 433 5 grains. Now 
* H. P. Borrell in Numismatic Chronicle, VI, 153, and Max. Borrell in personal 
communication. 
f Hussey’s Essay, p. 16. 
