This site requires JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript.
http://www.enable-javascript.com/
Toggle navigation
|
Register
|
Watchlist
|
My Leu
|
Login
|
EN
/
DE
EN
Deutsch
English
Auction
|
Consign
|
Auction Calendar
|
Archive
|
Contact
|
About Us
Leu Numismatik
Partners & Memberships
An extremely rare drachm of Artavasdes II in exceptional condition
Lot 155
KINGS OF ARMENIA. Artavasdes II, 56-34 BC.
Drachm (Silver, 18 mm, 3.93 g, 1 h), Artaxata, RY 6 = 51/0 BC. Draped bust of Artavasdes II to right, wearing five-pointed tiara decorated with a star between two eagles and tied with a diadem.
Rev.
BAΣIΛEΩΣ - BAΣIΛEΩN / AΡTAΥAZΔOΥ Helios (?) driving quadriga to left, being crowned with wreath by small figure of Nike held in his right hand; in field to left, monogram; above quadriga, ς. Kovacs 163. Extremely rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Well struck, beautifully toned and very well preserved. Light roughness near the edge
, otherwise,
good very fine.
Ex Leu 5, 27 October 2019, 184 and from an important collection of Armenian coins, Leu 2, 11 May 2018, 141.
Artavasdes II was the son of Tigranes 'II' the Great and - through his mother Cleopatra of Pontus - a grandchild of Mithradates VI Eupator. He succeeded to his father's throne as an ally of Rome, but he changed sides after the devastating defeat of Crassus against the Parthians at Carrhae in 53 BC. It was only in 36 BC, when Mark Antony launched his large-scale invasion of the Parthian Empire, that Artavasdes allied himself with Rome again. The Armenian King, however, failed to protect the siege weapon baggage train that he was entrusted with and Mark Antony eventually blamed him for the disastrous failure of his Parthian campaign.
Two years later, the Romans invaded Armenia and disposed Artavasdes II, who was then held captive in Egypt for some years before being executed at the order of Mark Antony right after the Battle of Actium. The silver coinage of Artavasdes II is uniformly very rare, as it was only struck in four years: Kovacs, for instance, only knew tetradrachms dated to 40/39 and 39/8 and drachms from 51/50 and 50/49 BC. Our coin thus belongs to the first silver emission of Artavasdes, struck just a few years after the Battle of Carrhae.
Estimate:
20000 CHF
Starting price:
16000 CHF
Hammer price:
28000 CHF
Your maximum bid:
Bid increment:
Closed
Minimum bid:
Closed
Number of bids:
4 Bids
Time left:
Closing time:
14-May-22, 06:00:00
CEST
×
Bid not accepted
×
Bid accepted
×
You have been outbid.
×
Under minimum
×
Your previous bid is higher than this amount.
×
You have been outbid.
×
Your maximum bid has been raised.
×
×
Credit limit exceeded
All winning bids are subject to a 20% buyer's fee.
×
Bid history
×
You are not logged in.
Keep me logged in
Username, email address or Password wrong
You have not verified your account yet
You have not been approved yet
Login »
Forgot Username or Password?
Not registered yet?
The registration takes just a few minutes, is free and gives you access to our auction archives and bidding.
Register »
×
You are now logged in.
×
Newsletter
Subscribe to get the latest news and benefit from special offers
»
Email address required
×
Newsletter
Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
×
Don’t show this message again
×
Web Auction 18 Part I, lots 249-1704, will be postponed to Sunday, 19 December 2021, 12:04 pm CET due to overloading of the website. Parts II (lots 1705-3322) and III (lots 3323-5000) will take place on Monday, 20 December, and Tuesday, 21 December 2021, starting at 10 am CET. We apologize for the problems.
Don’t show this message again
Preview Mode!