Ծոփքի հայ թագաւորութեան դրամները (շուրջ 260-70 Ք. Ա.)
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2013
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Since the publication of Paul Z. Bedoukian's historic paper on the coins of Sophene and the book of Necessian on the coins of Armenia, numerous new items have surfaced in numismatic sale catalogues. These coins ascribed to the kings of Sophene advance knowledge on Armenian numismatics substantially, both in metrology and typology. These need to be brought together and put in the broader picture of the coins of the kings of Sophene.
The author retrieved information on all these extremely rare coins from auction catalogues, Bedoukian's pioneering work, other scholarly papers, museums and private collections which remain unrecorded.
Thus, through a typological study, the author aimed to bring together all of the known information on the coins of Sophene. The present corpus has been prepared from printed photographs and the author's collection.
Table 1 eloquently demonstrates that the number of known coins of Kings Arsames I and Arsames II has quadrupled and quintupled, respectively, in the last thirty years. The known coins of Kings Xerxes, Zariadres, and Morphilig have nearly doubled, whereas the coins of Kings Sames and Abdissares have increased by a smaller percentage. Based on the data tabulated in Table 1, during the past thirty years the inventory of known Sophene coins has more than doubled, increasing from 53 to 140 pieces.
The author highlights the fact that new coins have been ascribed to a new ruler named Arkathius. The design of these newly found coins has certain similarities to the coins of King Xerxes but with Nike reversed. On King Xerxes coins Nike is standing on the left; whereas on examples of King Arkathius coins Nike is standing on the right.
The coins of King Arsames I with "horseman" design have two variations. In one case the design on the reverse is a horseman advancing to the right toward a springing lion; in the second variation, on the reverse the horseman is advancing to the right and his spear is pointed at foot soldiers.
The author notes that a new design of a coin ascribed to King Arsames I has been discovered. There is a single example where the horse's head and neck, facing right, is engraved on the reverse.
The author pointed out, however, that the most diverse design variations are on the coins of King Arsames II.
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Ներսէսեան, Ե., «Ծոփքի հայ թագաւորութեան դրամները (շուրջ 260-70 Ք. Ա.)», «Հայկազեան հայագիտական հանդէս», 2013, Պէյրութ, էջ 47-65