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ART HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION
THE BEAUTY OF THE ARMENIAN COINAGE ART
By Maximillien de Lafayette
CILICIA COINAGE
COIN OF HETUM I, circa 1226-1270 CILICIA COINAGE
The beauty of the ancient Armenian coins rivaled its Greek and Roman
counterparts. Under Tigran the Great, Armenian coinage minted in silver and
copper was more refined in design and execution than the Greek and Roman
coinages.
Photos: Armenian coinage from the 3rd century.
Armenian
first coins minted in bronze were issued by the Armenian kings of
Sophene. They appeared for the first time in ancient Armenia during
the 3rd century B.C. They included series of coins depicting on one side,
Armenian
kings such as Abdissares, Charaspes, Xerxes and Arsames and on the other
side, they had Greek signs or symbols and characters representing a
variety of animals and birds pertaining to Greek cults and mythology. The Armenians
adopted this new monetary system from the Greeks who invented the “metal
currency” in the 7th century B.C. century. This explains the reasons
for having Greek symbols and characters on one side of the Armenian
coins. In addition, the Greek coins were considered and used as “monetary
standards” for centuries in Asia Minor and Armenia. The Greek
“ coin monetary system” was used as monetary value standard(s) in goods and
money exchanges in Asia Minor, Middle East, Near East, Africa,
part of Europe, and of course in all the lands and territories of the
Greek empire which included Armenia. At that time,
under the Greek rule, Armenians traded with “Alexander the
Macedonian” gold coins . They referred to these Greek coins as “Sater”.
Greek coins were later replaced by Armenian coins following the
collapse of the Macedonian empire in that part of the world. And this,
will take us back to the 3rd century and Armenian reign of
the kings of Sophene. Archaeological
excavations in the Erebuni and Sisian unveiled Greek silver
coins from the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. which were the
“main currency” used in buying, selling and trading in Armenia and the
countries of Asia Minor under the Greek empire.
Later,
in the 2nd century B.C. during the Artaxiad dynasty,
Armenian coins became minted in copper, bronze and silver as well.
Armenian coinage reached its highest level of perfection during the reign of
Tigran the Great (95-55 B.C.) and continued throughout the epoch of the
kingdom of Cilicia for nearly three hundred years (from1,080 to 1,375).
Tigran the Great
is considered as the godfather
of Armenian coinage. The most varied and abundant sets and varieties of
coins ever minted (in Armenia and Occupied Syria) occurred during
his reign and later during the reign of his successor Artavazd the second. From the beginning of the reign
of Roupen till the end of the reign of Levon the fifth, a
varied collection of copper, silver and gold coinage was minted in multiple
denominations ranging from Tanks, Kardez, Poghs, double Trams,
half trams to Takvorins.
The article continues on the following pages.