Lot 4084
Armenian Kingdom. Tigranes II, 95-56 BC. Silver Tetradrachm (16.1g) minted at Antioch. Bust of Tigranes right wearing an Armenian tiara with five pyramidal points and adorned with a comet star between two eagles. Reverse: Antiochene Tyche seated right on rocks, holding a palm frond; river-god Orontes swimming right, below; TP monogram before; all within a laurel wreath. Nercessian (SCADA) Group 5 (A48/P13); Bedoukian (CAA) 40. Trivial earthen deposits. Soft gray tone with champagne highlights. A spectacular example, well struck on a large flan. Superb Extremely Fine.
After decades of fratricidal strife between various members of the Seleukid dynasty, the Syrians rose up against their rulers and invited Tigranes II, the Great, of Armenia to restore order in their kingdom (83 BC). His rule extended over the following fourteen years until he was eventually driven out of Syria by the Roman general Lucullus.
This superbly preserved tetradrachm issued at the Syrian capital of Antioch shows the king wearing his distinctive Armenian tiara on the obverse, while the reverse shows the city goddess, or Tyche, of Antioch with the river god Orontes swimming at her feet. This statue was created by the Greek sculptor Eutychides of Sikyon (ca. 335-275 BC) and its image appears on the reverses of many Antiochene coins down to early Byzantine times.
Estimated Value $5,000 - 7,500.
The Hunter Collection.
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