The Fineness of Persian Silver Coins

XRF analyses were conducted on the two sigloi in the collection of the Romanian Academy. The first, a rare satrapal siglos of 'King with dagger and bow / Ionian map' type, has 92.48% silver, the same fineness as coins of Mazaios of the same period. The second, a siglos of Carradice type IV B, has 78.25% silver, confirming data of von Bibra (88.40% silver). Comparison of the evolution of the silver content of Persian and Sidonian coins suggests that the fluctuations follow the same pattern and have the same military and political causes. A third siglos, an ancient forgery in commerce, was also examined and found to have 91.89% silver on the surface and 46.62% in the interior.