Catalog
1000 Drams Aghtamar
| Issuer | Artsakh |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
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| Value | 1000 Drams |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | 2004 ԼԵՌՆԱՅԻՆ ՂԱՐԱԲԱՂԻ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ ԱՐՑԱԽ 1000 (Translation: Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Artsakh) |
| Reverse description | A three-quarter perspective view of the Church of the Holy Cross (Surb Khach) on Aghtamar Island, rendered in fine relief against a mirror-polished field. The medieval Armenian church is depicted with its characteristic conical drum and dome above a rectangular nave, set upon rocky ground with stylized waves below suggesting Lake Van. The bilingual legend ԱՂԹԱՄԱՐ in Armenian script arcs along the upper left and AGHTAMAR in Latin script along the upper right, separated by a dot. The silver fineness mark °999 appears in the lower exergue. |
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| Additional information |
Artsakh — the self-declared republic governing the territory also known as Nagorno-Karabakh — issued collector coinage in the early 2000s partly as an assertion of institutional legitimacy, minting pieces that few countries would officially recognize. Aghtamar, the subject of this coin, is a tenth-century Armenian church on an island in Lake Van, located in present-day Turkey — a site of acute symbolic weight for Armenians following the catastrophic displacement of 1915.
The church sat abandoned and roofless for decades before Turkish authorities permitted a limited restoration completed around 2010.