| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 1587 Price realized: 1,200 CHF (Approx. 1,364 USD / 1,267 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF ARMENIA. Tigranes IV (Restored) and Erato, 2 BC-AD 1. Dichalkon (Bronze, 19 mm, 5.80 g, 12 h), Artaxata. [BACIΛEYC MEΓAC TIΓPANHC] Jugate busts of Tigranes IV, wearing five-pointed tiara, and Erato to right. Rev. ΦΙΛΟΚΑΙCΑΡ - A The twin peaks of Mount Ararat, as seen from Artaxata. Bedoukian, Coinage, 128 ('Tigranes II?'). CA 122 ('Tigranes II'). Kovacs 180. Very rare. Somewhat smoothed and with light cleaning scratches, otherwise, fine. Tigranes IV had ruled in Armenia since 8 BC, but when he allied himself with the Parthians, he was driven out by a Roman army under Gaius Caesar and replaced by his brother, Artavasdes III, in 5 BC. Three years later, Tigranes regained control of Armenia and eventually agreed to receive his crown from Augustus in an act of submission. The reverse legend of our coin refers to this event by calling the Armenian King 'friend of the Caesar'; the accompanying image shows the famous Mount Ararat as seen from Artaxata, with the Greater Ararat (5137 m) on the right, the Little Ararat (3896 m) on the left, and some foothills in front. The obverse, on the other hand, shows us Tigranes IV with his half-sister and wife, the famous Queen Erato of Armenia, who would later, during her sole reign (circa 13-15 AD), become the last of the Orontid line to rule Armenia. Starting price: 50 CHF |  |
Match 1:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 1586 Price realized: 3,000 CHF (Approx. 3,410 USD / 3,167 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF ARMENIA. Tigranes IV (Restored) and Erato, 2 BC-AD 1. Dichalkon (Bronze, 19 mm, 4.48 g, 12 h), Artaxata. [BACIΛEYC MEΓAC TIΓPANHC] Jugate busts of Tigranes IV, wearing five-pointed tiara, and Erato to right. Rev. ΦΙΛΟΚΑ[ΙCΑΡ] - A The twin peaks of Mount Ararat, as seen from Artaxata. Bedoukian, Coinage, 128 ('Tigranes II?'). CA 122 ('Tigranes II'). Kovacs 180. Very rare and unusually attractive. Minor scratches, otherwise, good fine. Tigranes IV had ruled in Armenia since 8 BC, but when he allied himself with the Parthians, he was driven out by a Roman army under Gaius Caesar and replaced by his brother, Artavasdes III, in 5 BC. Three years later, Tigranes regained control of Armenia and eventually agreed to receive his crown from Augustus in an act of submission. The reverse legend of our coin refers to this event by calling the Armenian King 'friend of the Caesar'; the accompanying image shows the famous Mount Ararat as seen from Artaxata, with the Greater Ararat (5137 m) on the right, the Little Ararat (3896 m) on the left, and some foothills in front. The obverse, on the other hand, shows us Tigranes IV with his half-sister and wife, the famous Queen Erato of Armenia, who would later, during her sole reign (circa 13-15 AD), become the last of the Orontid line to rule Armenia. Starting price: 75 CHF |  |
Match 2:
| Astarte S.A. > Web Auction 2 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 150 Price realized: 500 CHF (Approx. 568 USD / 528 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF ARMENIA. Tigranes IV (Restored) and Erato, 2 BC-AD 1. Dichalkon (Bronze, 18,91 mm, 5,02 g), Artaxata. [BACIΛEYC MEΓAC TIΓPANHC] Jugate busts of Tigranes IV, wearing five-pointed tiara, and Erato to right. Rev. [ΦΙΛΟΚΑΙCΑΡ - A] The twin peaks of Mount Ararat, as seen from Artaxata. Bedoukian, Coinage, 128 (as Tigranes II?). CA 122 (as Tigranes II). Kovacs 180. Rare. Nearly Fine. Starting price: 100 CHF |  |
Match 3:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 2235 Price realized: 1,200 CHF (Approx. 1,364 USD / 1,267 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: MYSIA. Pergamum. Gaius Caesar, 20 BC-AD 4. Hemiassarion (Bronze, 17 mm, 3.46 g, 12 h), A. Fourios, gymnasiarch, 2-3 AD. Γ•KAICAP ΠEPΓAMHNΩN Bare head of Gaius Caesar to right. Rev. A•ΦOYPIOΣ ΓYMNAΣIAPXΩN Armenian standing facing, wearing bashlyk and long garnments, holding spear downward in his right hand and bow in his left. Imhoof-Blumer, KM, p. 500, 1 and pl. XIX, 10 (same dies). RPC I 2361 corr. (same dies, but erroneous dating). SNG Paris 2031 (same dies). Very rare and of great historical interest. Deposits and the obverse struck slightly off center, otherwise, very fine. From a European collection, formed before 2005. The reverse of this very rare issue refers to the Parthian campaign of Gaius Caesar, who installed Ariobarzanes, the former king of Media Atropatene, as king of Armenia in 2 AD after Tigranes IV had died in battle the year before. However, Ariobarzanes died soon thereafter and Gaius faced an Armenian revolt incited by the Parthian king, Phraates V. The Romans trapped the rebels in Artagira, but Gaius was severely wounded after Abbadon, the leader of the uprising, treacherously invited him into the fortress for pretended peace talks on 9 September 3 AD. In the end, Roman military might prevailed nonetheless and Gaius installed Ariobarzanes' son, Artavasdes IV, as the new king of Armenia. Augustus' victorious grandson, however, died a few months later in Limyra in Lycia from complications caused by his wounds. The reverse of this very rare coin from Pergamum, which celebrates Gaius' success, was largely copied from Augustus' earlier denarius celebrating Tiberius' achievements in Armenia in 20 BC (RIC 519), when the future emperor had installed Tigranes III as king. The asiarch, A. Fourios, is dated in RPC to 1 BC (?), but this is an error as the Armenian campaign of Gaius did not take place in 2 BC, as noted on RPC I, p. 401, but in 2-3 AD, meaning that his coin emission was struck either in 2 AD to celebrate the appointment of Ariobarzanes as king of Armenia, or in the year thereafter, following the capture of Artagira and the installment of Artavasdes IV. While the obverse is sometimes described as showing Augustus, the legend leaves no doubt that it is in fact Gaius Caesar: it is the only known coin where he appears without his grandfather or his younger brother Lucius, no doubt in reference to the key role he played in the course of the Armenian victory celebrated on the reverse. Starting price: 100 CHF |  |
Match 4:
| Astarte S.A. > Web Auction 3 | Auction date: 22 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 167 Price realized: 65 CHF (Approx. 74 USD / 68 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: KINGS OF ARMENIA. Tigranes II the Great, 95-56 BC. Half Chalkous (Bronze, 12.54 mm, 1.69 g) Tigranocerta, 70-69 BC. Diademed and draped bust of Tigranes the Younger to right, wearing tiara with five points, decorated with star and tied with diadem of which ribbons flow behind his neck. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ in semicircle from left, ΔΗ ΜΟ (not visible) ΤΙΓΡΑΝΟΥ in exergue. Horse standing right, head down grazing. Kovacs 97. ACV -. CAA - . About Very Fine. Starting price: 30 CHF |  |
Match 5:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Auction 15 | Auction date: 1 June 2024 |
| Lot number: 191 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | |
| Lot description: SYRIA, Seleucis and Pieria. Antioch. Pseudo-autonomous issue, time of Augustus, 27 BC-AD 14. Trichalkon (Bronze, 19 mm, 7.10 g, 11 h), P. Quinctilius Varus, legate of Syria, CY 27 (Actian Era) = 5/4 BC. Laureate head of Zeus to right; behind, palm frond. Rev. [ΑΝΤΙ]ΟΧΕΩΝ ΕΠΙ ΟΥΑΡΟΥ / ZK The Tyche of Antioch seated to right on rock, holding palm branch in her right hand; below, river-god Orontes swimming right. CNG E-Auction 545 (2023), 429 corr. (same dies, but palm frond not noted). McAlee 87A (same obverse die). RPC I 4252 var. (no palm frond). Extremely rare and of great historical interest. A beautiful example of this interesting issue with very attractive earthen highlights. The reverse struck slightly off center, otherwise, good very fine. Ex Naumann E-Auction 114, 6 March 2022, 599. The extremely unusual palm frond behind the head of Zeus appears only on a single die of Varus from the year 27 after the Actian Era, corresponding to our year 5/4 BC. As a military victory symbol, F. Kovacs associates it with the expedition of the Syrian governor to Jerusalem in 4 BC. The background was Varus' involvement in the inheritance dispute of Herod, who in 5 BC accused his son and heir Antipater of attempted patricide. In his capacity as the governor of Syria, Varus was tasked with overseeing the adjudication of this matter. He sentenced the accused to death, a judgment ratified by Augustus and carried out in March 4 BC, mere days before the passing of Herod the Great. Prior to this, the monarch had designated his son Archelaus, born of his union with Malthake, as his successor. The ensuing inheritance dispute with Herod Antipas and Herod II prompted Varus to send the three brothers to Rome for judgment. In spring 4 BC, the Roman procurator Sabinus traveled to Jerusalem. Defying the governor's directives, he attempted to appropriate Herod's estate and loot the temple treasury, sparking a Jewish rebellion. Sabinus and his retinue soon found themselves besieged by insurgents within a fortress in Jerusalem, only being freed when Varus himself appeared on the scene with a relief force of two Syrian legions. Faced with the spreading revolt, the governor cracked down hard and, according to Josephus, had the uprising crushed and 2,000 Jews crucified. This resounding military success may explain why a palm branch appears as a symbol of victory on our coin, which was likely minted in the summer of 4 BC. Rome remained victorious, but the suppression of the uprising and the mass execution of insurgents undoubtedly fueled hatred against the occupying power and laid another cornerstone for the later Jewish rebellions against the Empire. From a Roman standpoint, however, the quelling of the rebellion marked a resounding success, propelling Varus further along the trajectory of his career. In 7 AD, he became the first governor of the newly established province of Germania. Two years later, instead he gained eternal infamy when he fell victim to the ambush orchestrated by Arminius, which culminated in the devastating Battle of the Teutoburg Forest where Varus' entire army was annihilated. Varus, in despair, met his tragic end by his own hand, marking the abrupt end of his illustrious career and prompting the withdrawal of Roman troops from the new Germanic province. Estimate: 2500 CHF |  |
