Harry Falk said, "if the text is silent about the issuing agency, gold coins in

[Allen W Thrasher]

Harry Falk said, "if the text is silent about the issuing agency, gold
coins in
India could date back to the times of Darius, i.e. about 500 BC."

I recently read Pierre Briant's "From Cyrus to Alexander : a history of
the Persian Empire," and he on several occasions says he thinks the
issues of coins by Darius and his successors were intermittent and
solely for the sake of paying Greek mercenaries.  Whether the latter
were active in India and the adjacent regions I would have no idea.

Allen


Allen W. Thrasher, Ph.D.
Senior Reference Librarian
Southern Asia Section
Asian Division
Library of Congress
Jefferson Building 150
101 Independence Ave., S.E.
Washington, DC 20540-4810
tel. 202-707-3732
fax 202-707-1724
athr at loc.gov
The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Library
of Congress.