Catalog
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| Issuer | Armenia, Kingdom of |
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| Year | 96 BC - 80 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetrachalkon (1⁄12) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Diademed bust of Tigranes II facing right, wearing the distinctive Armenian tiara adorned with a star emblem and secured by a diadem. The portrait is rendered in the Hellenistic tradition, with characteristic royal regalia emphasizing the king's divine and imperial authority. The tiara, a hallmark of Armenian royal iconography, rises prominently above the king's head. The field shows typical surface patination consistent with bronze coinage of the period. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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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 back from Parthia once his power was consolidated. These bronzes were struck during the early decades of his reign, before his imperial ambitions fully materialized and before he built Tigranocerta as his new capital around 83 BC. The Nike type likely reflects early military successes against neighboring kingdoms rather than the full-blown conquests that would later make him the most powerful monarch in Asia.