Catalog
Tetrachalkon - Tigranes II biga
| Issuer | Kingdom of Armenia |
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| Year | 96 BC - 80 BC |
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| Value | Tetrachalkon (1⁄12) |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed or tiaraed effigy of Tigranes II facing right, the king wearing his distinctive Armenian tiara adorned with a star emblem and secured by a diadem whose ties fall behind the neck. The portrait is rendered in the Hellenistic tradition, with strong facial features typical of Armenian royal coinage of the late second to early first century BC. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Tigranes II came to the Armenian throne in 95 BC after spending years as a hostage at the Parthian court — a humiliation he repaid by eventually seizing seventy valleys of Parthian territory. The bronze municipal coinage of his early reign, including this type, predates his most aggressive expansion and the foundation of his new capital Tigranocerta around 83 BC, after which his silver coinage came to dominate.
Kovacs 61 is among the scarcer bronzes of the series, with the biga type appearing in relatively few documented collections compared to the more common later issues.