10 · Imperial coin · metal that travels

The archer in gold

The daric and the king’s image

These gold coins bore a royal figure with weapons and served for high-value payments.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Historical recreation specific to The daric and the king's image, Achaemenid Empire, probably workshops in western Asia, Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE. — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

**DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Gold darics show a royal figure kneeling or running with bow and spear. Their relatively stable weight facilitated high-value payments and connected imperial finance with Aegean and western Asian markets.

The figure is not a secure individual portrait of Darius. It functions as a type of Persian authority, repeated across distinct reigns. The coin demonstrates standardisation, although the economy continued to use silver, grain, rations and local circuits.

The small flan preserves a royal figure in a dynamic pose, armed with bow and another weapon. It does not attempt to portray individual traits: it repeats a recognisable sovereign body across several reigns.

With about 8.4 grams of gold in many specimens, the daric concentrated high value and was useful in military payments and western circuits. Most daily transactions continued to be conducted in silver, kind or regional coins.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: the Met conserves an Achaemenid gold daric of the 4th century BCE with a royal figure. Interpretation and caution: identifying the face with a specific monarch or supposing a uniform monetary economy across the empire would be excessive. Documented expansion: Museum collections document the weight, metal and iconographic types of Achaemenid darics. Expanded interpretation and caution: The modern name derives from Darius, but it does not allow attributing each coin to that king nor imagining uniform minting across all satrapies.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE.
Location: Achaemenid Empire, probably workshops in western Asia
Material: Struck gold
Context: High-value coin and royal symbol
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Weight: The weight of many darics is around 8.4 g of gold.
Type: The royal figure appears running or kneeling with bow, spear or dagger depending on the series.
Use: It was a high-value denomination, especially visible in the western part of the empire.
Documentary coverage: 2 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.
In this grouping: Armed royal image on a coin; its function is monetary and political.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

You are viewing

Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE.

The archer in gold

Achaemenid Persia

Century of the specimen; not an earlier introduction date of the type.

Current record

Gold32 dated objects

20 / 32In the centre: The archer in gold

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Coins

The archer in gold · Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE. · Achaemenid Persia — You are viewing
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Treasure of Cheste · Jewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE. · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Denarius of Carisius · ≈25–23 BCE · Iberians
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Writing

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

49 Classical Voices · Authors and traditions between the 6th century BCE and 4th century CE · Iberians
Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
Oracle bones · from ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
The cost of transcription · 19th century–current digital edition · San histories
Translating faith · 16th–18th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Voices from outside · Fifth century BCE–Late Antiquity · Garamantes
Writing with gaps · Diverse chronologies · Garamantes
Zalmoxis · testimony of Herodotus, 5th century BCE; no biographical date of the divinity. · Thracians

Kingship and power

Narmer Palette · ca. 3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Puabi headdress · ca. 2600–2450 BCE · Sumer
Ur-Nanshe relief · Mid-3rd millennium BCE · reign of Ur-Nanshe · Sumer
Stele of the Vultures · Towards 2450–2425 BCE · Sumer
Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Naram-Sin Stele · Reign of Naram-Sin, 2254–2218 BCE · Sumer
Sumerian King List · Towards 1800 BCE · Sumer
Stele of Hammurabi · Towards 1750 BCE · Sumer
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Burial at K IV · circa 1750–1550 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Fu Hao’s burial goods · ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
Tribute to Assyria · c. 848 BCE · Phoenicians
Black Obelisk · 825 BCE · Sumer
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
Kushite king · c. 721–664 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Stele of Esarhaddon · 7th century BC C. · 671 campaign BCE · Sumer
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Ishtar Gate · 7th–6th centuries BCE · work of Nebuchadnezzar II · Sumer
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar · first quarter of the 5th century BCE · Phoenicians
The archer in gold · Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE. · Achaemenid Persia — You are viewing
Susa grave goods · c. 350 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians
Denarius of Carisius · ≈25–23 BCE · Iberians
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Pakal’s grave goods · sealed on 28 August 683 CE · Maya worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Kuba ndop · ca. 1760 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Before Persia · Central core c. seventeenth century BCE; Neo-Elamite additions between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Rome learns in terracotta · End of the sixth century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The Banquet of Seuthes II · Towards 400 BCE. Anabasis episode · Thracians

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Before the archer there were lions and bulls

The Sardis issues prior to the archer type show the forequarters of a lion and a bull facing each other, with two square punches sunk in the reverse. The Iranica numismatic synthesis records a disagreement: some scholars attributed these issues entirely to Persian rule, while others maintain that gold issues began under Croesus. The shift to the royal archer does not erase this transitional stage. Comparing designs, metals and chronology allows studying how the Achaemenid administration adopted and transformed an existing monetary technology in Anatolia.

Research · Encyclopaedia Iranica · Coins and CoinageAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

REGIONAL AREA

Achaemenid Empire, probably workshops in western AsiaApproximate maximum envelope; control varied by reigns and regions. The footprint marks the indicative center of the area, not a border or an exact point.

Where it is held

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Item or group in the record · Documented collection

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

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History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

The archer in gold

The Gold of Varna

Puabi headdress

The goat from PG 1237

Before Phoenicia

Tutankhamun's grave goods

Stag Vessel

Valchitran

Before the Iberias

Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi

Kushite king

Gold at Kuntur Wasi

Regolini-Galassi tomb

Condomina Earring

Uni was also Astarte

Ezerovo Ring

Coțofenești helmet

A battle on a comb

The Kul-Oba vase

The Solokha gold comb

The archer in gold

Treasure of Jávea

Susa grave goods

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Faces of the Steppe

Poroina Mare Rhyton

Treasure of Cheste

Marina Alta Hoard

Panagyurishte

Mairena Hoard

Patera from Perotito

Moulds for gold

Gold rhinoceros

A closer look

Before the archer there were lions and bulls

Location and territory

Where it is held

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?