Catalog
50 000 Drams Monte Melkonian
| Issuer | Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1998 |
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| Value | 50 000 Drams (50 000) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Armenian |
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| Reverse description | Left-facing portrait bust of Monte Melkonian (Avo), the Armenian-American military commander and hero of the Karabakh War, rendered in high relief against a mirror proof field. Below and to the left of the portrait, two raised clenched fists symbolising resistance are depicted, resting above a laurel sprig in the lower field. The dates '1957∙1993', denoting his birth and death years, appear to the left of the portrait. The Armenian inscription 'ԱՎՈ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆ ՍФВԻUБ' identifying the subject curves within the field, while a longer Armenian dedicatory legend runs around the outer border of the reverse. |
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| Additional information |
Monte Melkonian was an Armenian-American guerrilla commander who led forces in Nagorno-Karabakh until his death in June 1993, killed by an Azerbaijani grenade fragment near Merzili. He had previously spent time in French prisons for his involvement with ASALA. The unrecognized Artsakh republic issuing gold commemoratives in 1998 was asserting a sovereignty no UN member state would recognize — these pieces were struck more for diaspora collectors than for any domestic monetary function.