The first Persian coins were in all likelihood issued by Darius, the second Great King of the Achaemenid Empire (522-486 BC). The Greeks accordingly called them "darics." The coins bore the effigy of the Great King as an archer, for the art of archery was highly valued in Persia.
The Persian darics were the most widespread coins of Antiquity. They were issued in enormous numbers and circulated from the Mediterranean to the Black and the Caspian Seas throughout the Near East to India.