Archaeologists have discovered a pot of Persian gold coins likely dating to the 5th century B.C. in the ancient city-state of Notion in western Turkey.

The coins are gold darics, characterized by the image of a kneeling archer wearing a long tunic on the obverse. The reverse has no image, only a punch mark. They were likely minted in Sardis, 60 miles northeast of Notion, and were buried in a small wine jug known as an olpe.

Darics were minted from the late sixth century B.C. until the conquest of the Persian empire by Alexander the Great in 330 B.C., and the design of the coins remained the same with only minor stylistic differences. Researchers have tried to arrange the coins in a chronological sequence by analyzing those stylistic differences. One of the important aspects of the newly discovered hoard is that it is independently dated by other artifacts associated with the hoard.

The hoard was found in the corner of a room in a structure buried beneath a Hellenistic era house. Presumably, it was stored there for safekeeping and for some reason never recovered.  According to the Greek historian Xenophon, a single daric was equivalent to a soldier’s pay for one month.

Ancient historians frequently mention military operations around Notion. During much of the fifth century B.C., Notion, while freed from the Persians, lay under Athenian domination. The conflicting loyalties of the inhabitants of Notion and nearby cities, which occupied a border region between the Persian and Athenian spheres of influence, are illustrated by a dramatic episode related by the Greek historian Thucydides.

Between 430 B.C. and 427 B.C., a group of Persian sympathizers from the nearby city of Colophon had occupied part of Notion with the help of Greek and “barbarian” mercenaries. In 427 B.C., an Athenian general called Paches attacked and killed the pro-Persian mercenaries, after luring their commander into a trap. The Persian sympathizers were then expelled, and Notion was reorganized under Athenian supervision.

This is exactly the kind of sequence of events that could have led to both the deposition and the loss of this hoard, but it is not the only possibility, Ratté said. Later, in 406 B.C., a decisive naval battle in the conflict between Athens and Sparta was fought off the coast of Notion, which the Athenians were using as a naval base. Western Anatolia erupted into renewed conflict in the 360s B.C., when several of the Persian governors of western Anatolia rebelled against the central authorities.

The harbor of Notion, an important military asset, was likely reinforced during this period. The conventional chronology of Persian coins would favor a fourth century B.C. date for the hoard from Notion.