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The beauty of the ancient Armenian coins rivaled its Greek and Roman counterparts. Under Tigran the Great, Armenian coinage minted in silver and copper  was more refined in design and execution than the Greek and Roman coinages.

CILICIA COINAGE

Hetumian Coinage, 13^th century

PARTHIAN COIN

qqARMENIAN COINS FROM THE 3^rd CENTURY B.C.

Armenian first coins minted in bronze were issued by the Armenian kings of Sophene. They  appeared for the first time in ancient Armenia during the 3rd century B.C. They included series of coins depicting on one side, Armenian kings such as Abdissares, Charaspes, Xerxes and Arsames and on the other side, they had Greek signs or symbols and  characters representing a variety of animals and  birds pertaining to Greek cults and mythology.

The Armenians adopted this new monetary system from the Greeks who invented the “metal currency” in the 7^th century B.C. century. This explains the reasons for having Greek symbols and characters on one side of the Armenian coins. In addition, the Greek coins were considered and used as “monetary standards” for centuries in Asia Minor and Armenia. The Greek “ coin monetary system” was used as monetary value standard(s) in goods and money exchanges in Asia Minor, Middle East, Near East, Africa, part of Europe, and of course in all the lands and territories of the Greek empire which included Armenia.

At that time, under the Greek rule, Armenians traded with “Alexander the Macedonian” gold coins . They referred to these Greek coins as “Sater”. Greek coins were later replaced by Armenian coins following the collapse of the Macedonian empire in that part of the world.  And this, will take us back to the 3^rd century and Armenian reign of  the kings  of Sophene.

Archaeological excavations in the Erebuni and Sisian unveiled Greek silver coins from the 5^th and  6^th centuries B.C. which were the “main currency” used in buying, selling and trading in Armenia and the countries of Asia Minor under the Greek empire.

 Later, in the 2^nd century B.C. during the Artaxiad dynasty, Armenian coins became minted  in copper, bronze and silver as well. Armenian coinage reached its highest level of perfection during the reign of Tigran the Great (95-55 B.C.) and continued throughout the epoch of the kingdom of Cilicia for nearly three hundred years (from1,080 to 1,375).

  ttARMENIAN SILVER COIN OF HETUM 1^st, CIRCA 1226-1270

Tigran the Great is considered as the godfather of Armenian coinage. The most varied and abundant sets and varieties of coins ever minted  (in Armenia and Occupied Syria) occurred during his reign and later during the reign of his successor Artavazd the second.

From the beginning of the reign of  Roupen  till the end of the reign of  Levon the fifth, a varied collection of  copper, silver and gold  coinage was minted in multiple denominations ranging from Tanks, Kardez, Poghs, double Trams, half trams to Takvorins.

Satrap Orontes, Gold, Obverse, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, 362 B.C. Photo : Bibliothèque nationale, Paris

CLASSIFICATION OF ARMENIAN COINAGE PER DYNASTY AND KINGS REIGNS

King Abdissares, Copper, 210-190 B.C.   King Tigran I, Copper, 123-96 B.C. Tigran the Great, Tetradrachma, 95-55 B.C.

q CILICIAN ARMENIA KINGDOM’S MINTED COINS   

FROM THE FALL OF THE ARTASHESIAN DYNASTY TO THE FIRST ARMENIAN REPUBLIC

After the fall of the Artashesian dynasty, Armenian coins minting came to a halt for centuries to come.
The 11^th century was bad news for the Armenians. Atrocity and  massacres were committed by the Turks against the Armenian population. Many fled the homeland, while thousands were either deported, exiled or massacred. A considerable number of Armenians settled on the plateau of Cilicia, soon to become a formidable kingdom. Indeed, at the dawn of the 12^th century, Cilicia  kingdom was created and began to make its mark on history. It did not take the Armenians long before a new currency came to life.

The first coinage mint occurred under the reign of the very first king of Cilicia, king Levon the first and remained in circulation for approximately three hundred years. The very first minted coins symbolized the strong Armenian Christian faith, for they represented Christian signs and symbols. In addition to a great national pride in their ethnic origin, Armenians first, display an enormous Christian fervor and a deep faith in Jesus Christ. They did manifest this fervor and faith in minting their coins. Almost all the minted metal currency at that time depicted a monarch and a dominant Christian symbol.

The very first series of coins were minted in silver and bronze with a very limited edition in gold which was not widely used or circulated among the population. By the end of the reign of Levon the fifth, (from 1, 374 to 1,375)  the last king of Cilicia, all Armenian coins were minted in nickel or copper.

In the 13^th and 14^th centuries, the Rupenid dynasty and the Hetumit dynasty issued a series of magnificently minted coins depicting various secular and religious symbols, in addition to a most unique novelty: Minted coins with Armenian and Arabic characters!!  This was the last time, Armenia will and would issue or mint a currency until the arrival of the first Armenian republic in 1,918.

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