1881.] 
1G7 
A. Cunningham— Belies from Ancient Persia. 
taking the siglos at 87*36 grains, the normal weight of the pentasiglon or 
quarter Daric, would have been 436*8 grains, or only a trifle more than the 
actual weight of these large silver coins. The types of these coins are the 
king in a chariot drawn by four horses, and a galley filled with rowers on 
the reverse. There is also a quarter piece of the same types, or one-sixteenth 
of a Daric. 
The next silver coin in weight is the Aryandic of which Herodotus has 
given a brief account. These coins range from 220 to 23G grains in weight 
which is too heavy for the eighth of a Daric, or 218*4 grains at the rate of 
13 to 1. It would, however, exactly agree with the required weight at 14 
rates, as 134*4 X — 235*2 grains. But so far as I am aware there is 
no authority for supposing that gold was scarce or silver common in Egypt 
during the governorship of Aryandes. 
The next coins in weight are those of the Satraps of Asia Minor, Tiri- 
bazus, Pharnabazus, Tiridames-, and others. Mr. Head takes the normal 
weight of their coins at 172*9 grains, or just twice that of the siglos , which 
he fixes at 86*45 grains. According to my valuation of the siglos at 87*36 
grains the full weight of the satrapal coins of Asia Minor would be 174*72 
grains. The difference between these values is very little ; but 1 altogether 
dissent from Mr. Head’s identification of the siglos with the Persian 
drachm. This name I would assign to the double siglos of the Satraps on 
the following grounds. At the present day the three smaller weights of 
the Persian system are the Danik or Dang , the Mishkdl, and the Darm or 
Diram , which I would identify with the Danake , the siglos, and the Drach¬ 
ma of ancient writers. As the Darm is equal to 2 Mishkals , it corresponds 
exactly with the satrapal silver coins of Asia Minor, which are just double 
the weight of the siglos. The Darm was therefore one-tenth of a Daric. 
The ancient Persian siglos was divided into 6 Danakes, just as the 
Mislikal is now divided into 6 Ddniks or Dangs ; and as the siglos was 
•JL-th of the Daric, so the Danik was yi^-th, and its multiple of 4 Daniks 
[Chahar-Danik] was .-^-th, of a Daric. A specimen of this last very rare 
coin, weighing 55 grains, is given in Plate XVII fig. 4. The DLemisiklon is 
mentioned by Josephus, and the Hemisiklion by Hesychius. The half-siglos , 
or qiiarter darm, is such an obviously useful division that one would have 
expected the coin to have been very common. But so far as I am aware, 
not a single specimen of this value has yet been found of the royal archer 
type. 
The Danik itself is mentioned by three different authors, Pollux, 
Hesychius and Suidas. Pollux writes the name Danike or Danake , or Dani- 
kon , and says that it was a Persian coin. Hesychius calls it Dame , and 
says that it was worth more than an obolus. # But this form of Dame is 
* A avv. vofua/jiarLtr ti fiapfiapiKbv bwap-zvov ttAzov ofioAov oAiycp rivi . 
X 
