(δαρεικός), a very pure gold piece, generally supposed to have been first coined by Darius the son of Hystaspes, probably during his stay at Babylon, out of the vast quantity of gold which had been accumulated in the treasury of that capital. The daric was widely circulated not only in the Persian empire, but also in Greece; so that the Persian daric, which was also called stater, was the gold coin best known in Athens in ancient times. According to Dr Bernard, it weighed fifteen grams more than our guinea. Hussey gives its value at about L1, 1s. 10d. 1-76 farthings. There are specimen of this rare coin in the British Museum, of the respective weights of 128-4 grams and 128-6 grams. They are stamped on one side with the figure of a kneeling archer clothed in a long robe, with a spiked crown on his head, and holding a bow in his left hand and an arrow in his right; and on the other side with a sort of quadra incusa or deep cleft. All the other pieces of gold of the same weight and value which were coined by the succeeding kings, both of the Persian and Macedonian race, were also called darics. Of these there were whole darics and half darics; and in those parts of Scripture written after the Babylonian captivity they are called adarkonim, and by the Talmudists darkonoth. There were also silver darics.

DARIEN GULF, a large gulf on the northern coast of New Granada. It measures 26 leagues from N. to S., and 9 from E. to W. Several rivers flow into it, the largest of which is the Atrato. The coast is full of sharp and inaccessible shoals, and possesses few places fit for disembarkation.