Table Of Content

Series I Volume XXIII 1997 ARMENIAN 111111^ NUMISMATIC JOURNAL TABLEOFCONTENTS Vol.XXIII(1997) ANNOUNCEMENTS 1 OfficersoftheSociety 1 Armenian Numismatic SocietyWeb Siteon Internet 1 BooksShippedtoArmeniaLost 1 ANewComputerfortheSociety(MacintoshPerforma6300CD,PowerPC) 1 Obituary 1 Armenian Numismatic Literature 2 ABrEmDeOnUiKaInANNu,miPsaumlatZi.c ALitHeoraartdureofCoronat.ionTra^msofÔshin 123 >^ NERCESSIAN.,Y.T. Angel on KingOshin CoronationTrams 13 UU,PS”UbU«*Ui 'L- 8 1 19 SARKISSIAN, HenryV. The Lapel Pins ofHovnanian School inTiflis (in Armenian) . TheAraratEskijiam Museum Grand Opening ^ 21 Announcement 23 Letters 23 NERCESSIAN,Y.T. Inventory ofCilician Armenian Gold Coins 25 . 37 REPUBLIC OFARMENIA TheFlag,CoatofArms,OrdersandMedalsofthe Republic ofArmenia (in Armenian) Armenian Numismatic Literature 42 ISHKHANIAN, Hagop. StampsinOurDays 43 ,Armenian Numismatic Literature 45 Editorial 47 Letters - 43 NERCESSIAN.,Y.T. TheArmenian CoinAuction ofJohnJ. Slocum 49 Armenian Numismatic Literature 52 53 SARKISSIAN, HenryV. Numismatic Inquiries in Azgagrakan Handes (in Armenian) Armenian Numismatic Literature 56 BOOKREVIEW. Ottoman SilverMarks,byGaroKiirkman. ReviewedbyYTN 58 ESKIJIAN, Luther LettertoOurMembership 59 ArmeniaMintstheFirstGoldCoin 60 News Release 60 Donations 0q NERCESSIAN, Y. T. TheArmenian CoinAuctionofEdwardJoseph 61 Armenian Numismatic Literature 67 SARYAN, L. A. ACounterfeitCoronationTram ofLevon I ofCilicianArmenia 69 Armenian Numismatic Literature 70 NERCESSIAN,Y.T. ACounterfeitLevon-Hetoum SilverTram 72 Series I VolumeXXIII, No. 1 March 1997 8 ARMENIAN ^ NUMISMATIC JOURNAL TABLE OFCONTENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS 1 OfficersoftheSociety 1 ArmenianNumismaticSocietyWebSiteonInternet 1 ABoNokeswSChoimpppuedtetrofAorrmtehneiSaocLioestty(MacintoshPerforma6300CD,PowerPC) 11 Obituary Armenian Numismatic Literature BEDOUKIAN,PaulZ. AHoardofCoronationTrâmsofOshin 3 Armenian Numismatic Literature 12 ^ NERCESSIAN,Y.T. AngelonKingOshinCoronationTrams 13 UtkPS'UhK'Ui d,. IQ SARKISSIAN,HenryV. TheLapelPinsofHovnanianSchoolinTiflis (in Armenian) TheAraratEskijian Museum Grand Opening 21 ARMENIAN NUMISMATIC JOURNAL SeriesI Vol.XXIII. No. I March 1997 ANNOUNCEMENTS OfficersoftheSociety President: Luther Eskijian Vice President: Terenik Nercessian, e-mail, [email protected] Treasurer: Wartan Gewenian Secretary&Editor : Yeghia T. Nercessian ArmenianNumismaticSocietyWebSiteonInternet Information about the Armenian Numismatic Society has been available on the Internetfortwoyears: address: http://www.coin-universe.com/org/armenian/index.html Telephoneareacodechange StartingJanuary25,1997(transitionperioduptoJuly25,1997)ourPhone/Faxnumber andnewareacode:562/695-0380 BooksShippedtoArmenia TheUnitedArmenianFund’s86thairliftarrivedinYerevanon September8, 1996;it carried 102copies Armenian Coinsand Their Valuesand20copiesofArmenian Nu- mismaticJournaldonatedbytheArmenianNumismaticSociety(valuedat$4000).The recipient, the State Museum ofArmenian History in Yerevan, undertook the respon- sibilityofdistributingthese materialstothelibrariesofArmeniaandArts'akh. Unfor- tunately,thewholeshipmentdisappearedintheairportDuringatelephone conversation, onNovember 18, 1996,Mr.A. Shahnazarian, directoroftheMuseum, informedusthat calolpifeosurofbAoxCeVsowferbeoomkissswienrgebduitsctohveerreedmaininAirntgs'baokohk,sahnadvererteuarcnehdedtothtehierMdeussteinuamt.ionS.even ANewComputerfortheSociety(MacintoshPerforma6300CD,PowerPC) MHThzisspneeedw,aeclqecutirsointiiconFahxasMoaldlemth,eCmDo,deMurlnticpolnevesnciaennc1e5s:inc1h6cMoBl/or1.d2ispGlBay,memimcorroyp,hon1e0,0 soundinput/outputports, extensive supply offonts, etc.Wepurchased numerousfonts: Armenian, Russian, transliterator symbols,and ofcourse, some new software. Needless tosay,thereisalottobepurchasedyet. Henceforth“ArmenianNumismaticLiterature” in ourjournal will be set with Times font, since Cyrillic and transliterator fonts are based on Times font. As we progress in 1997, these new acquisitions will be more apparentandourjournalwillhaveanevenmoreprofessionalappearance. It is with deep sorrow we report the death ofFr. Sahak Djemdjemian (5.III.1939- T12.X.1996),AbbotGeneraloftheMekhitaristOrder,inSanLazzaro,Venice. Fr. Djem- djemian had an interest in Armenian numismatics and authored numerous articles relatingtoArmenian coinagein ourjournal. gPryc.oaRniveedruac,atCialoinfaolr,ninaon9-0p6r^6of0iJ-t1O9oU2rRg0a.NniAUz.LatSIi.SoAnt..heAEsqduistaoorcrti,eartYl.eyTpE.udbitlNoiercrsac,teisWos.nioaGfne,Awre8m5ne1ina1inaBnaevnNedurmlTiy.sNPmeaarrtckiecsPsSlioaaccnie’- PsuubsbcrîSptîornsi$P1p2.50peryear^.Backi(sGrseueensfiaevladi,laWblle).andIHSeSnNry0S8a8r4k-is0s1i8a0n(E—revLanC)C.NNo85n--6m4e9m4b4e3r ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIII(1997) 1 1 ARMENIANNUMISMATICLITERATURE ANEC. ANECAwards27StudentsSedanAncientArmenianCoin.ArmenianWeekly,Vol. LXVI(13July1996),No.28(29768),p.6. ThedeservingstudentsforexcellenceinArmenianstudiesareawardedwithancientArmeniancoinsdonat- edbyGarySedan. YTN 2AAu,gRuMstEN19I9A6)N,NOoB.S4E3R,Vp.ER6.. NewJubileeCoinsIssued.ArmenianObserver,Vol.XXVI(21 odRTefhOpetiAhccetoCsspeapanetmcrreh-aenltsiysBcpkabeenolwkaerairldslesoauyinesdcdsouiniennedEwhfnaogcrsloiit1snh0hse,0“dcodeXldrlXiaecmcXatstnoerfsdCa.ctHeToEhtvSehaelSouXebO,vXLe,X2rY9Is.MIe5PWdImiosAmrpDlld,adyiCsaYhmEceeotRsaesEtr,VOolAf1yN0am.,r8pmiAsgarRdoaMfmtEsAo.NrbmI2eeA0nh0.ie0l”ad,,pritnohoeYferrceeovYvpeTairnesN.se , 32- - -. 100 295 10.8 2000 «XXXIICHESSOLYMPIAD,YEREVAN,ARMENIA»: 3 ARMENPRESS. NewCommemorativeMedal.NorGyank,Vol.XVIII(12September1996), No.40,p.25 AnewmedaldedicatedtothefifthanniversaryoftheindependenceofArts‘akhwasissued.Theobverse displaysthecoatofarmsofArts‘akh;thereverse,th,esymbolofimmortalityand“Nagomo-Karabagh ,Republic”inscription.The'medalwas»designedbyArkadyPetrossianandstruckinFrance.Thediameteris 50mm. YTN , 50 4 HAJINIAN,CharlesA. LevonSaryanReceivesNumismaticAward,byCharlesA.Hajinian. AmenianReporterInfI,Vol.XXIX(22June1996),No.38;ArmenianWeekly,Vol.LXVI(22 June1996),No.25(29765),p.6. LevonA.Saryanwasselectedas“thefirst-placewinneroftheBradfieldLiteraryAwârd”forp-ublishing “RecentChemicalStudiesonAncientandMedievalArmenianCoinsUsingSEM-EDS,”publishedinthe Fall1995issueofTheCentineljournal. YTN - «Bradficld 1995-/, «ReccntChemicalStudics AnclcntandMedieval ArmenianCoinsUsingSEM-EDS» 5 HAJINIAN, Charles A. Saryan Receives Numismatic Award, by Charles A. Hajinian. ArmenianMirror-Spectator,Vol.LXV(22June1996),No.50(3442),p.9. SeeabstractofNo.4. 2 ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIII(1997) AHOARDOFCORONATIONTRAMSOFOSHIN* PLATE I PAULZ.BEDOUKIAN,Ph.D. When I was in Paris a few years ago, I visited the well-known professional numismatist Mrs. Nadia Kapamadji, who showed me a hoard ofcoronation trams of Oshin,thekingofCilicianArmeniafrom 1308-1320. Mrs. Kapamadjikindlyplacedthe entire collection at my disposal for the purpose ofresearch.® The time and place of discoveryofthehoardremainsunknown.Thehoard originally consisted of129 pieces, twelve ofwhich were already sold. This article istherefore based on the study ofthe remaining 117pieces. The existence ofcoronation coins amongthe regulartrams ofthe Roupenian kings is very interesting, although it sometimes presents an enigma which cannot be satisfactorily resolved. Itisunderstandablethat,whenPrinceLevonII(1186-1198AD.)wasanointedking in 1198 andestablished anewdynasty,he struckcoronation coinstoimmortalizethat historicalevent,andshowhispeopleandtheworldthathehadbeenanointedking. On the obverse^ ofsome ofhis coronation coins we see Levon on hiskneesbefore Christ, while adovedescendsfromheaven above; on others,rays oflightdescend toblessthe event.Onthereverseweseetwolionsbacktoback,facingeachother,withalongcross standingbetweenthem. ItisacceptedthatLevonstruckthesecoinsduringthefirstyearofhisruleasking. They are comparatively scarceând in the author'sbook, ofover 4000 silvercoins of LevonIonly 120areofthecoronationtype.®Thiscomparison supportsthe opinion that Levon's coronation coins were struck for only a limited period atthe beginning ofhis reign. Levon'ssuccessorsHetoumIandLevonIIdidnotstrikecoronationtrams. When Levon II died in 1289, he was succeeded by his son Hetoum II. Capable individual though he was, Hetoum preferred the religious life and in 1293handed the OriginallypublishedinHaigazianArmenologicalReview,Vol.IV(1973),pp.81-96.Itwastranslated intoEnglishbyLevonA.Saryan,Ph.D.Afewrevisionsandupdatesarereflectedinthefootnotes. ®[Mrs.NadiaKapamadji(NvartKapamadjian)wasaprominentcoindealerandcollectorinParisfor severaldecades.HercollectionwaspublishedbySergeBoutin,MonnaiesdesEmpiresdeDyzance,2vols. (Maastricht,1983),andplacedforsaleatauctionNumismatique:CollectionN.K.(Paris,October27-29,1992). Ttrhaemscololfefcetrieodnicnonfitvaeinleotds3(1#9O3s1hiton#c9o3r5o)n.atMiaonnytramnsot(calolinosf#t1h3es5e4ttroa1m3s84o)riaginndattehdefsraolmeithnicsluhdoeadrd2.7—cLoArSo]nation SincespecifictermsdonotexistintheArmenianlanguagetodescribetheobverseandreverseofacoin, itisproposedthatthewordsagoghm(sideA)andbegoghm (sideB)beusedforthetermsobverseandreverse respectively.Inthepast,thetermk'orp'us(corpus)wasproposedtodescribeacompletecollectionofliterary Twhoirsks,nIeawansmdisinnonfwootrtmyheeidtstcthoeanrtfmilriamsteedcl.yom[amBoleandrolguyekiuhaosnaerdldaitnceorAntrsatmiuendniiinegadn3a5nn0du0mpiLusebmvlaoitnsihceIdcworariothinonaagtr.idonoftroavmesr8ha0s0bseuecnhdtirsacmosv.erSeede. 4P0a9u-l44Z0.;BaeldsoouikniSaenl,ect"eAdLNaurmgiesmHaotaircdStofudCioerso(nLaotsioAnngTelreasm,s19o8f1)L,evppo.n3I0,"2-H3a1n7d—eLsASA]msorya,Vol.90(1976),pp. PaulZ.Bedoukian,CoinageofCilicianArmenia(NewYork,1962),pp.139-144. ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIII(1997) 3 4 P.Z.Bedoukian throneovertohisnextbrotherToros.Torosruledastheking'srepresentativebutnotas king,andforthatreasondidnotstrikeanycoinsinhisname. In 1296,HetoumII andTorostravelledtoConstantinopletoattendtheweddingof theirsistertothesonoftheByzantineemperor.Intheirabsence,thenextbrotherSmpad declaredhimselfking.Wedon'tknowbywhatmeanshewasabletoobtaintheapproval ofboth the Catholicos [the supreme patriarch oftheArmenian Church, LAS] andthe GreatMongol Khan Prince Ghazanforthisact.Whenthetwo olderbrothersreturned from Constantinople, Smpadhadthemthrowninto prison, thenhadToroskilled and Hetoumblindedbysearinghiseyes. Afourth brother, Gosdantin,finding Smpad's actionsintolerable, revolted against Smpad and succeeded in capturing and imprisoninghim. Hetoum was released from prison, butbecause he wasblindhe permitted Gosdantin to rule. Shortlythereafter, however,Hetoumregainedhissight, andthepeopleandnoblespreferredtohavetheir lawful king seated on the throne. They united behind Hetoum and succeeded in defeatingGosdantinandSmpad.thetwousurperswereexiledtoConstantinoplewhere theyremaineduntiltheirdeath. We know that Hetoum II did not strike silver trams, but satisfied himselfwith copperand smallbillon coins. ItisinterestingtonotethatbothSmpadandGosdantinstruckattractivesilvertrams ofhighsilverpurity.Thetramsofbothwereheavierandcontainedmoresilverthanthe latertrams ofLevon II. Likewise, they were considerablyhigherin weightand silver contentthanthoseofHetoumIPssuccessorLevonIII.Gosdantinalsostruckgoldcoins. ThetramsofSmpadresemblethoseofLevonI,perhapsbecausehewishedtoinform theArmenianpeoplethathewasLevon’sworthy successor. Smpad’strams are oftwo types. Onthe obverseofone we seethekingseatedon athrone decoratedwithlions, holdinga cross in his righthand and alilyinhis lefthad,justlike on the trams of LevonI.Onthesecondtypethesamepictureisontheobverse,exceptthatintheking's lefthandweseeadouble-edgedaxe(ormace)restingonhisshoulder.Onthereverseof both types are Levon’s twinlions, with alongdouble cross. The weights and specific gravities'*ofthetwotypesdonotdiffersignificantlyfromeachother.Consequently,we cannot say with certainty thatthe firsttype is a coronation tram and the second, a regular tram. The following measurements were taken from clean coins of each type in the author's collection; SmpadtramsresemblingtheregulartramsofLevonI CoinNo, Weight (grams) Specific Gravity 1. 2.9100 10.32 2. 3.0209 10.30 3. 2.7473 9.70 ^Thespecificgravityofasilvercoinindicatesitssilvercontent.Silvercoinsaremostlyamixtureof silverandcopper;insuchamixtureacoinwithaspecificgravityof10.35containsapproximately92%silver, whileacoinofspecificgi-avity9.95containsbarely70%silver. ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIII(1997) AHoardofCoronationTramsofOshln 5 Smpadtramswiththedouble-edgedaxe CoinNo. Weight (grams) Specific Gravity 1. 2.5905 10.10 2. 2.6780 9.85 3. 3.0056 10.20 4. 2.3732 9.80 5. 3.0900 10.17 ThesilvercoinsofGosdantinIaregenerallyofgoodquality,butsincetheyarevery rareitisnotpossibletolistheretheirweightsandspecificgravities. It has alreadybeen noted that the trams ofSmpad and Gosdantin are ofhigher weightandsilvercontentthanthetramsofthelaterperiodofLevonII.Itislikelythat thetwousurperkingsmadeanattempttoimprovethequalityofthesilvercoinagewhich wasin circulationinthecountry. Itcan be seen thatsilvercoins ofLevon III (1301-1307) suffered adeclineboth in termsofweightand silvercontent.Mostofthe succeedingkingsgraduallyreducedthe weightandsilvercontentoftheircoins.Thisiseasilyexplainedasaconsequenceofthe deterioratingpolitical situation, and reflectsthecountry'sfailingeconomy. Under these conditions it is surprising to find, among the many silver coins of Oshin, aseriesofraretramswhich resemblein appearancetheregularsilvertramsof King Levon I, and are also equivalentto Levon's trams in terms ofweight and silver content.Asrecentlyas 1962,thesecoinswererare;ofthemorethan200silvercoinsof Oshin cataloguedinthe author'sbook,®only 13 wereofthiscoronation tramtype. [The bulkofOshin's silvercoinageisofthetype obverse:kingridingonhorsebacktoright, reverse: lion walking to right with —cross. These coins, called takvorins, contain substantiallylesssilverthanthetrams. LAS] In recentyears, thousands more Roupenian coins have been discovered including manycoinsofOshin. In 1967,asmall 17piecehoardofOshincoronationtramspassed through this writer'shands. The weights and specific gravities ofseveral clean Oshin trams from this hoard, clean Oshin trams from the author's collection, and Oshin takvorinsfromtheauthor'scollection aregivenbelow: Oshincoronationtramsfromtheauthor'ssmallhoard CoinNo. Weight (grams) Specific Gravitv 1. 2.8819 9.940 2. 2.9264 9.800 3. 2.9641 9.800 4. 2.9021 10.050 5. 2.9446 10.035 6. 2.8250 10.200 ®Bedoukian, CoinageofCilicianArmenia,pp.353-364. ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIII(1997) 6 P.Z.Bedouklan Oshincoronationtramsfromtheauthor'scollection CoinNo. Weierht (arams) Snecific Grav 7. 2.6300 10.60 8. 2.6723 10.21 9. 2.9676 10.30 10. 2.9797 10.27 11. 2.8667 10.04 RegularOshintakvorinsfromtheauthor'scollection OninNo. Wftjght (grams) Snecific Gravity 1. 2.4166 9.30 2. 2.4386 9.40 3. 2.1331 8.90 4. 2.3770 9.50 5. 2.3651 9.46 6. 2.3696 9.10 7. 2.4982 9.63 8. 2.2198 9.61 takvIotricnasnbbeotsheeinnttheartmsthoefreweisigahtcoansniddesrialbvleerfdiinfefneersesn.ceUbneqtuweesetinoOnasbhliyn,ttrhaemsseatnwdoOtsyhpiens werenotregardedasthesametypeofcoinandhaddifferentvaluesinthemarketplace. Infact,ifwecomputetheaveragesilvercontentofthecoronationtrams,weseethateach containedontheaverage2.3gramsofsilver,whilethetakvorinscontainedanaverage of1.2grams.Thus,thetramshadabouttwicethevalueofthemorecommontakvorins. ThequestionarisesastowhyOshinstruckhighqualitycoronationtrams.Hecould havestruckcoinsofthetakvorinspecificationswiththetypesofLevonI,andthisway wouldhaveconservedthesilverbullionoftheroyaltreasurywhilestillannouncinghis coronation.Consequently,theremusthavebeenotherreasonsforstrikingcoinswiththe specificationsofthetramsofLevonandHetoum-Zabel. 1 Catalogueofthecoinhoard No. ReverseInscription Reversecross SameDie 1 (Allobversesarefro'mt(hLeetstearme3diine.lexft=oba-vUearrseeffir-1e,ol8m-d.t1to9h,lee2f1t0.7o-f8p9ci.reoc—9s0es.)c^-9o1i.n9h2oard) 2 3 » » 3.3x,101 3x j! 4 » 5 5,23a ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIII(1997)