Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Tetrachalkon - Tigranes II Nike
| Issuer | Armenia, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 96 BC - 80 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Nike advancing right, a crescent surmounting her head, holding a wreath in her extended right hand and a palm branch in her left hand. The figure is rendered in the Hellenistic style, with drapery suggesting forward movement. A Greek legend surrounds the field identifying the issuing authority. The composition reflects the strong Hellenistic cultural influence prevalent in the Armenian court during the reign of Tigranes II. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΤΙΓΡΑΝΟΥ (Translation: King Tigran the Great) |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| 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.