ADARCONIM (Heb. ad-o,-"ko-ttim; Sept. opaxuh, drack-mah', and xpvaatt, kroo-soos ; Vulg. drachma and °areas).
(1) Darle. Gesenitis and most others are of opinion that these words, which occur in 1 Chron. xxix :7; Ezra viii :27 ; :60; Neh. vii :7o-72, de note the Persian Doric, a gold coin, which must have been in circulation among the Jews during their subjection to the Persians.
Probably before the time of Darius Hystaspes the Persians had no coinage of their own, and that the daricus coined by him was probably a medal (Herod. iv:i66) of the finest gold When the daries became current, especially after the mercenary troops were paid in them, their num hers must have been greatly augmented; yet Straho assures us (1, xv, p. 10681 that the coin was by no means abundant among the Persians, and that gold was employed by them rather in decoration than as a circulating medium. This, however, is of little real consequence, for it pro ceeds on the erroneous supposition that the coin derived its name from the first Darius, and could not have previously existed. In the later day of
Strabo the coin may have become scarce, although once plentiful. Be this as it may, the daric is of interest, not only as the most ancient gold coin of which any specimens have been preserved to the present day, but as the earliest coined money which we can be sure was known to and used by the Jews.
(2) Crowned Archer. The distinguishing mark of the coin was a crowned archer, who ap pears with some slight variations on different specimens. His garb is the same which is seen in the sculptures at Persepolis, and the figure on the coin is called, in numismatics, Sagittarius.
(3) Weight. The specimens weighed by Dr. Bernard were fifteen grains heavier than an Eng lish guinea, and their intrinsic value may, there fore, be reckoned at twenty-five shillings, about five dollars and a half (Eckhel, Doctrina Numo rum Veterum; Bernard, De Mensuris et Ponderi bus). (See MONEY.)