Identify a Persian coin
Answer up to four questions — metal, weight, script and dynasty — and this tool narrows the full catalogue of 120 documented Persian and Iranian types down to the closest matches, each linked to its sourced museum record.
Guided identification wizard
What is the coin made of?
Colour and patina settle this in seconds. Gold never corrodes; silver tones grey or black; copper and bronze turn brown, red or green.
The four clues that settle most Persian coins
Metal and surface
Gold survives untarnished, so a bright yellow piece with no corrosion is a daric, dinar, ashrafi or Pahlavi gold. Grey-black toning means silver — the siglos, drachm, dirham, abbasi and kran families. Green or brown patina means copper or bronze, which in Iran means fals, falus and small Qajar coppers.
Weight standard
Persian mints held tight standards for centuries: the siglos at c. 5.4 g, the daric at c. 8.4 g, the Sasanian drachm at c. 4.1 g on a broad thin flan, the Parthian tetradrachm near 15 g, and the Islamic dinar near 4.2 g. A scale reading to 0.01 g is more decisive than any photograph.
Script and imagery
No legend at all points to Achaemenid coinage. Greek letters mean Seleucid, Bactrian or Parthian. Pahlavi script beside a fire altar with two attendants means Sasanian. Purely epigraphic Arabic means an Islamic dynasty. Eastern Arabic numerals with a lion-and-sun mean Qajar, Pahlavi or modern Iran.
Flan shape and edge
Sasanian drachms are unusually broad and thin with a beaded border; Parthian silver is thick and dumpy; Achaemenid sigloi are oval and crudely punched; machine-struck Qajar and Pahlavi issues are perfectly round with a milled or reeded edge — an instant modern giveaway.
Identification questions, answered
- How do I identify an old Persian coin?
- Work through four clues in order: the metal (gold, silver, copper or paper), the weight in grams, the script or imagery on the faces (no legend, Greek, Pahlavi, Arabic or modern Persian), and finally the dynasty. A kneeling archer with no writing is Achaemenid; a fire altar with Pahlavi letters is Sasanian; a purely Arabic religious legend is Islamic-period; Eastern Arabic numerals with a lion-and-sun point to Qajar or Pahlavi Iran.
- What does a Persian daric look like?
- A gold daric weighs about 8.4 g, measures roughly 15–16 mm, and shows a crowned Persian king kneeling to the right holding a bow and spear, with a rough incuse punch on the reverse. It carries no inscription at all — that absence of legend is the single fastest identifier.
- How can I tell a Sasanian drachm from an Arab-Sasanian one?
- Both use a bust with an elaborate crown on the obverse and a fire altar with two attendants on the reverse. Arab-Sasanian issues add a short Arabic marginal legend such as bismillah beside the Pahlavi, and usually name an Arab governor instead of the Sasanian king.
- Is this tool an appraisal or authentication?
- No. The identifier narrows your piece to the most likely catalogued types by comparing your observations against documented specimens. It offers no valuation and cannot confirm authenticity; confirm any attribution against the cited museum and reference sources before acting on it.
Keep going
This identifier is an educational research aid built on documented museum specimens. It provides no valuation and cannot authenticate a piece; verify every attribution against the cited sources before relying on it.