Movers, Shakers and Stabilizers
TIGRANES II
"The Great"
Armenia
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Coin Details
| Origin/Country: |
ANCIENT - GREEK EMPIRES (6th CENT BC - 5th CENT AD) KINGS OF ARMENIA Tigranes II, 95-56 BC |
| Item Description: |
AR Tetradrachm Kings Of Armenia branch; the Orontes below rv Tyche std., hldg. palm |
| Full Grade: |
NGC AU Strike: 4/5 Surface: 4/5 |
| Owner: |
karl49 |
Owner Comments:
Tigranes the Great (140 – 55 BC) was emperor of Armenia under whom the country became, for a short time, the strongest state east of the Roman Republic. Tigranes had been a hostage until the age of 45 at the court of King Mithradates II of Parthia after the Armenian defeat in 105 BC. At its height, his empire extended from the Pontic Alps (in modern north-eastern Turkey) to Mesopotamia, and from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. He was ultimately cowed by the legions of Rome, most finally under Pompey the Great who left the aged Tigranes as a figurehead king until his death. According to some researchers, the "symbol on his crown that features a star with a curved tail may represent the passage of Halley's Comet in 87 BC." (See obverse of the tetradrachm)