The rarest of the Gold Persian Darics - the Type IV Hero/King
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The myth has always been that the Type II Daric is the rarest gold type. But in some of my research harvesting and pasting information together from multiple sources and phone conversations. I find it amazing that if the Type III and Type IV Daric were minted simultaneously in the 5th and 4th Centuries why do we find so few survivors? A recent European hoard consisting of thousands and thousands of Type III Darics but produced no new Type IV findings. The new belief that’s trending is that production of the Type IV was much smaller in scale and this gold Type is the true “Rarity King”. Only a handful of Ancient collections in the US will have a Type VI.
According to NGC they have certified 11 Type IV Darics in all grades. Followed by the Type II Daric with 19 certified. We’ve all witnessed the hoard of thousands of Type III Darics that have come into the market in the last few years. The estimated rarity ratio could be 350+ to 1 when comparing the Type IV to the common Type III.
The Type IV Daric was the final type the Persians would design and was introduced around 455 B.C., it would also feature the king in a kneeling-running stance, but now he holds a dagger in his left hand (instead of a spear) while retaining the bow in his extended right hand. Like the Type III coinage, Type IV is subdivided into different stylistic sub-issues (A, B and C), all rare.
The gold Persian Daric became the currency desired in all the ancient world, since it was the most convenient format to exchange and accumulate wealth.The Greeks never minted much gold, but their silver Athenian Owl Tetradrachms also became a sort of world currency from the 5th century BC. Leaving the prestigious Daric, as really the only means of storing wealth and making large payments on an international scale.
Persian Darics were minted for almost 200 years continuously from 520-330 BC until they were defeated by Alexander the Great. Alexander would melt their Coinage down and create new coins for the former eastern Persian Empire so business could continue.
Achaemenid Persian Empire 400-350 BC Gold Daric NGC Mint State 4/4 Strike 4/4 Surface Carradice Type IV B (Large King Type with Dagger pointing towards waist)
Persian king or hero, wearing kidaris and kandys, in kneeling-running stance right, holding dagger in right hand (pointed at waist), bow in left, quiver over shoulder, no indentations at waistline / Incuse punch. Carradice Type IV B This rare variety is differentiated from the others by the lack of indentations at the waistline of the figure on the obverse, and his dagger is pointed directly at his waist, rather than at a 45 degree angle to the ground. It’s a sleeper rarity and among the Finest Known in Mint State.
Price @$11,969.88