Extremely Rare View of Mt. Ararat

343, Lot: 222. Estimate $500. Sold for $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of ARMENIA. Tigranes IV, with Erato. Second reign, circa 2 BC-AD 4. Æ Chalkous (19.5mm, 4.96 g, 11h). Artaxata mint. Jugate busts of Tigranes, draped and wearing tiara, and Erato right / Twin peaks of Mount Ararat. M&D –; Kovacs, Armenia II 5; CAA 128 (Tigranes II); AC 122 (Tigranes II). Good Fine, green patina, off center, area of weak strike. Extremely rare.

This unprecedented issue features two firsts for Armenian issues: jugate busts on the obverse, of Tigranes and his queen, Erato, and the view of the twin peaks of Mount Ararat on the reverse. Kovacs, who persuasively argues for this being an issue of Tigranes IV, notes that the view is from the perspective of the city of Artaxata. Although not visible on most examples, the legend on the reverse, ΦIΛOKAICAR, clearly display’s the Armenian king’s affection for his Roman ally, Augustus.