Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 36 27 May 2017
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Kings of Armenia. Tigranes IV (Restored) and Erato Æ Dichalkon. Artaxata, 2 BC-AD 1. Jugate busts of Tigranes, wearing tiara and diadem, and Erato right / [ΦΙΛΟΚΑΙCΑΡ], the two peaks of Mount Ararat, as seen from the Armenian capital Artaxata; [A] in exergue. F. Kovacs, Tigranes IV, V, and VI: New Attributions, AJN 20, 5; CAA 128 (Tigranes II?); AC 122 (Tigranes II). 5.76g, 20mm, 12h.
Good Fine. Extremely Rare.
This remarkable type was only discovered in 1978, being first published by Bedoukian. Admitting that he could not arrive at a certain attribution, he placed it in his catalogue under Tigranes II, stating that 'it may have been struck by Tigranes when he conquered Cappadocia in 93 BC, forcing the ruling king, Ariobarzanes I, to flee to Rome,' and that the double-peaked mountain on the reverse resembled Mt. Argaios in Cappadocia (CAA pg. 24). It seems that Nercessian merely followed Bedoukian in his placing the coin under Tigranes II without further explanation, although he included a footnote telling the reader to see additional information in a subsequent chapter which he then neglected to provide.
More recently Frank Kovacs has convincingly argued for assigning the coin to Tigranes IV and his sister-queen Erato. He bases his argument on four points: the reverse legend ΦΙΛΟΚΑΙCΑΡ ('Friend of Caesar'), which was previously misread by Bedoukian as KAICAPEΩN; the regnal year A in the exergue, which 'implies that Tigranes' earlier reign under the Parthian aegis was illegitimate and that Rome alone had the right to crown the king of Armenia,' and draws parallels to similar instances in the coinages issued by other client kingdoms of Rome; the extreme scarcity of the coins which of course better fit this king's short reign than do the plethora of types and number of extant pieces assigned to him by both Bedoukian and Nercessian; and finally the beardless portrait better fits the youthful son of Tigranes III than do the previously assigned bearded types.
Good Fine. Extremely Rare.
This remarkable type was only discovered in 1978, being first published by Bedoukian. Admitting that he could not arrive at a certain attribution, he placed it in his catalogue under Tigranes II, stating that 'it may have been struck by Tigranes when he conquered Cappadocia in 93 BC, forcing the ruling king, Ariobarzanes I, to flee to Rome,' and that the double-peaked mountain on the reverse resembled Mt. Argaios in Cappadocia (CAA pg. 24). It seems that Nercessian merely followed Bedoukian in his placing the coin under Tigranes II without further explanation, although he included a footnote telling the reader to see additional information in a subsequent chapter which he then neglected to provide.
More recently Frank Kovacs has convincingly argued for assigning the coin to Tigranes IV and his sister-queen Erato. He bases his argument on four points: the reverse legend ΦΙΛΟΚΑΙCΑΡ ('Friend of Caesar'), which was previously misread by Bedoukian as KAICAPEΩN; the regnal year A in the exergue, which 'implies that Tigranes' earlier reign under the Parthian aegis was illegitimate and that Rome alone had the right to crown the king of Armenia,' and draws parallels to similar instances in the coinages issued by other client kingdoms of Rome; the extreme scarcity of the coins which of course better fit this king's short reign than do the plethora of types and number of extant pieces assigned to him by both Bedoukian and Nercessian; and finally the beardless portrait better fits the youthful son of Tigranes III than do the previously assigned bearded types.