2022 Tigranes the Great Silver Tetradrachm Coin

Tigranes II, known as Tigran the Great, ruled the Armenian empire from 95 BCE to 55 BCE. He is considered one of the finest Armenian kings from antiquity, for extending his empire from the Pontiac Alps, to the Indian Ocean, and from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. These successful conquests and alliances allowed Tigranes II to gain the title of “Tigranes the Great,” by notable historians such as Plutarch, and the “King of Kings,” for never appearing in public with less than four kings at his side. The Roman statesman Cicero referred to him as, “making the Republic of Rome tremble before the prowess of his arms,” gaining the reputation as being Rome’s “deadliest enemy” of the time.

Coins produced under Tigranes II were minted in a variety of cities and came in two denominations of silver, and four in copper. The majority of tetradrachms were struck in the city of Antioch, with an average weight of 15 grams of silver, and a diameter of 25mm. The majority of drachms were struck in Artaxata, (modern-day Artashat, Armenia), which was the commercial capital of the empire, and a part of the ancient Silk Road trade network.

Other coins consisted of the silver drachms, with an average weight of 3.5 grams, whereas the copper coins came in the “four chalci,” (6-8 grams, 20mm diameter), “two chalci,” (4-5 grams, 17mm diameter), “one chalci,” (2.5-3.5 grams, 14mm diameter), and the “half chalci,” (1-1.5grams). The silver coins usually acted as an international currency and were used outside the empire for trade, whereas the copper was usually reserved for use within.

The coins struck in Tigranocerta, Antioch, and Damascus, contain the Greek words, “BAΣIΛEΩΣ,” on the right of goddess Tyche, and “TIΓPANOY,” to the left, meaning “King Tigranes.” The goddess Tyche, daughter of Aphrodite, was the goddess of fortune and became absorbed into the Parthian and Armenian hierarchy. She is shown seated on a rock, with her feet resting on a youthful male figure, the river-god Orontes, who is swimming. Numismatists believe the coins struck in Artaxata depict the Araks River, in Armenia, and the goddess is the Armenian version of the goddess Anahita.