Catalog
Dichalkon - Tigranes II Herakles
| Issuer | Armenia, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 80 BC - 68 BC |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Reverse description | Herakles standing facing left, the Nemean lion skin draped over his extended left arm, his right hand resting atop his grounded club. The Greek royal legend is divided across the field by the figure, with control mark A and monogram TP visible in the left and right fields respectively. The composition follows standard Hellenistic iconographic conventions for royal bronze coinage of the Armenian kingdom. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Tigranes II ruled the largest empire in Armenian history at its peak — stretching from the Caspian to the Mediterranean following his conquests in Syria and Mesopotamia — and his bronze coinage reflects the ambitions of a king who held the title "King of Kings." The Kovacs 82 dichalkon belongs to a municipal bronze tradition that continued even as Tigranes was simultaneously issuing silver tetradrachms from major urban mints like Tigranocerta, the capital he founded around 83 BC.
The series ends with Rome. Lucullus sacked Tigranocerta in 69 BC, effectively collapsing the western half of the empire and terminating civic bronze production at the mints under direct royal control.