KINGS of ARMENIA. Tigranes II ‘the Great’. 95-56 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 16.11 g, 1h). Tigranocerta mint. Struck circa 80-68 BC. EF.

Triton XXVII
Lot: 310. Estimated: $ 1 000

Greek, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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KINGS of ARMENIA. Tigranes II ‘the Great’. 95-56 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 16.11 g, 1h). Tigranocerta mint. Struck circa 80-68 BC. Diademed and draped bust right, wearing tiara decorated with star between two eagles / BAΣIΛEΩΣ TIΓPANOY, Tyche of Antioch seated right on rock, holding laurel branch; below, river-god Orontes swimming right; monograms to inner right and on rock; all within wreath. SCADA Group 1, obv. die A7; Kovacs 74.1; M&D 2; CAA 17; AC 30. Slight die wear on obverse. EF.

Tigranes II won the epithet "The Great" by expanding the Artaxiad Armenian Kingdom to its greatest extent and claiming the title "King of Kings," hitherto employed by the Achaemenid and Parthian rulers of Persia. The son of the Artaxiad king Artavasdes I (ruled 159-115 BC), Tigranes spent much of his youth as a hostage to his father’s loyalty in the Parthian court. Tigranes inherited the Armenian throne in 95 BC and began methodically turning his mountainous, feudal kingdom into a powerful, centralized Hellenistic state. At its peak his kingdom incorporated all of Seleukid Syria, Cilicia, Cappadocia, and large swaths of Parthia. Though a crafty and talented statesman, his success was due less to his own military prowess than the result of a power vacuum caused by internal strife within Parthia and the collapse of the Seleukid Kingdom, along with the turmoil caused by the titanic struggle between the Roman Republic and Mithridates VI of Pontus. Tigranes formed an alliance with Mithridates, but fared poorly against the Roman generals Lucullus and Pompey. He ultimately elected to formally submit to Rome, which allowed him to retain his core kingdom while giving up his conquests.

The final winners of all Triton XXVII lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 9-10 January 2024.

Triton XXVII – Session One – Lot 1-337 will be held Tuesday morning, 9 January 2024 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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