Ira and Larry Goldberg Auctioneers
Auction 87 15-16 September 2015
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Artaxiad Kingdom. Tigranes II, the Great, Silver Tetradrachm (15.87 g), 95-56 BC. Bust of Tigranes right wearing an Armenian tiara with five pyramidal points and adorned with a comet star between two eagles. Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩ-Σ TIΓPANOY, Tyche of Antioch seated right on rocks, holding palm branch; below, the river-god Orontes swimming right; Θ before, another on rocks; all within laurel wreath. SCADA grp. 2 (A19/P22); Bedoukian 36; Nercessian 30. Lightly toned and well centered. About Extremely Fine.
After decades of fratricidal strife between various members of the Seleukid dynasty, the Syrians rose up against their rulers and invited Tigranes II, the Great, of Armenia to restore order in their kingdom (83 BC). His rule extended over the following fourteen years until he was eventually driven out of Syria by the Roman general Lucullus.
This nicely preserved tetradrachm issued at the Syrian capital of Antioch shows the king wearing his distinctive Armenian tiara on the obverse, while the reverse shows the city goddess, or Tyche, of Antioch with the river god Orontes swimming at her feet. This statue was created by the Greek sculptor Eutychides of Sikyon (ca. 335-275 BC) and its image appears on the reverses of many Antiochene coins down to early Byzantine times.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,500.
After decades of fratricidal strife between various members of the Seleukid dynasty, the Syrians rose up against their rulers and invited Tigranes II, the Great, of Armenia to restore order in their kingdom (83 BC). His rule extended over the following fourteen years until he was eventually driven out of Syria by the Roman general Lucullus.
This nicely preserved tetradrachm issued at the Syrian capital of Antioch shows the king wearing his distinctive Armenian tiara on the obverse, while the reverse shows the city goddess, or Tyche, of Antioch with the river god Orontes swimming at her feet. This statue was created by the Greek sculptor Eutychides of Sikyon (ca. 335-275 BC) and its image appears on the reverses of many Antiochene coins down to early Byzantine times.
Estimated Value $2,000 - 2,500.