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500 Dram Armenian Alphabet - Զ
| Issuer | Central Bank of Armenia |
|---|---|
| Year | 2013 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 500 Dram |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The featured letter Զ (Za), the sixth letter of the Armenian alphabet, is rendered in a large, ornate illuminated manuscript style at the centre of the field, with decorative knotwork detailing characteristic of classical Armenian calligraphy. The remaining thirty-five letters of the Armenian alphabet are arranged in a continuous circular legend surrounding the central motif, reading clockwise from the upper left. A small bevelled square decorative element appears in the lower left of the field. The overall design pays homage to the Armenian script created by Mesrop Mashtots in the 5th century AD. |
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| Edge | Reeded |
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| Additional information |
Part of the Central Bank of Armenia's 38-coin series dedicated to the Armenian alphabet, each piece commemorating a single letter devised by Mesrop Mashtots around 405 AD. The alphabet's creation was explicitly political — the Armenian church needed scriptures in a native script to resist Syriac and Greek ecclesiastical dominance, and within a year of its invention, the Bible had been translated in full.
Զ is the sixth letter, representing the /z/ sound, and derives ultimately from the Greek zeta through Mashtots's systematic adaptation.