Raffi was the pen name of Hakob Melik-Hakobian, the 19th-century Armenian novelist whose serialized fiction — particularly Khente and Jalaleddin — galvanized a generation of Armenians living under Ottoman and Tsarist rule. This coin was issued on the 170th anniversary of his birth. The Central Bank of Armenia has issued a long-running series of gold collector pieces honoring Armenian cultural and literary figures, and Raffi remains one of the most politically charged inclusions — his novels were essentially calls to arms dressed as historical fiction.
Raffi was the pen name of Hakob Melik-Hakobian, the 19th-century Armenian novelist whose serialized fiction — particularly Khente and Jalaleddin — galvanized a generation of Armenians living under Ottoman and Tsarist rule. This coin was issued on the 170th anniversary of his birth. The Central Bank of Armenia has issued a long-running series of gold collector pieces honoring Armenian cultural and literary figures, and Raffi remains one of the most politically charged inclusions — his novels were essentially calls to arms dressed as historical fiction.