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» Series I VolumeXXIV 1998 ARMENIAN NUMISMATIC WM JOURNAL TABLEOFCONTENTS Vol.XXIV(1998) Editorial * News ^ Letters ^ , MeetingNotice NERCESSIAN,Y.T. CopperCoinsofLevonIV 3 ^ Armenian Numismatic Literature 11 SARKISSIAN,HenryV. OntheEarliestMonetaryCirculationTestimonyof Armenia (in Armenian) ] L,etters .... 15 P,aul Z. Bedoukian on BilingualHalfTrams 15 SIBILIAN,Fr.Clement. Hetoum I [BilingualHalfTrams] - 16 . - [ 16 NERCESSIAN,.Y.T. Armenian Bilingual HalfTrams 17 23 Armenian Numismatic Literature 25 MATI0 SIAN Vartan. OntheCoinsAscribedtotheArmenianKing Vagharshak (,in Armenian) 27 Editori.al, NERCESSIAN,Y.T. TiganesIICopperCoinsWithHorseDesign 28 NERCESSIAN,Y.T. ASilverCoinofArtaxiasII(30-2-B.C.) 29 32 Armenian Numismatic Literature NERCESSIAN,Y.T. An OverstruckTakvorinofGuy 33 NERCESSIAN,Y.T. AnUnpublishedTramofKingGosdantinI(1298-1299) 35 37 Armenian Numismatic Literature ESKIJIAN,Luther. LettertoOurMembershi.p 39 40 Letters 40 Donations NERCESSIAN,Y.T. TheArmenianCoinAuctionofDr. MesropAbgarians 41 SARYAN,L. A.,PANOSSIAN,M. ADrachmForgeryofTiganstheGreat 49 50 Armenian Numismatic Literature BOOKREVIEW. L’histoiredesguerresmithridatiquesvueparlesmonnaies., byFrancoisde Callatay. ReviewedbyYTN 5 52 Armenian Numismatic Literature » Series I VolumeXXIV, No. 1 March 1998 ARMENIAN 1U3 numismatic journal TABLEOFCONTENTS Vol.XXIV(1998)No.1 Editorial 1 News O^ Letters ^ MeetingNotice ^ , NERCESSIAN,Y.T. CopperCoinsofLevonIV 3 Armenian Numismatic Literature 10 . 11 SARKISSIAN,HenryV. OntheEarliestMonetaryCirculationTestimopnyof Armenia (in Armenian) ARMENIAN NUMISMATIC JOURNAL SeriesI Vol.XXIV. No. 1 March 1998 UPDATETOOURMEMBERSHIPANDFINANCIALSTATUS As you may recall, in our last issue of our Journal, I covered our financial conditionandtheneedtoincreaseourannualdues.Nowtobringyouuptodate: We have had 56 members pay their dues, with 18 members, unpaid. We have subscribers(non-members)9paidupsofar,andonly1subscriberunpaid.Andsadlywe havehad 5 cancellations. The total income thus farforthe yearfrom these accounts amountsto$1520,tocarryusfortheentireyear,printing,mailing,etc.Nosalaries,no overhead,nonothing,to produce one ofthemostcomprehensivenumismaticjournals forasmallsocietyasours. Inordertoupgradeourdesktoppublishingcapability,in 1996wespentmorethan $3400forournewcomputerandrelatedexpenses;inDecember1997wespentmorethan $1500 foralaserprinterand computerrelatedexpenses; in 1998wejustpurchased a softwareandwehaveonemoretoprocure. Fromtheseexpenses,youcanseethatwith annualincomeofsome$1700,andhavingalreadyspentalmost$1600,wehavenotmuch leftforpublishingourJournal. Withtheupgradingofourcomputerequipment,wewillbeabletocontinuewithour excellentjournal issues. As forouroperatingfunds forthisyear,we'llhavetoinvade ourbooksalesincometocarryus on. BooksthatoursecretaryYeghiaNercessian and Dr.PaulZ.Bedoukianhavewritten,atnocompensationforthem.Weobtainedthelatest high technology tools for desk top publishing but the proceeds ofour book sales is subsidizingourJournal'sexpensesinsteadofpublishingnewnumismaticbooks. In ourJournal (1994, p. 68) Nercessian printed a long list offuture Armenian numismaticworkstobepublished. Seventeentitlesarelistedthere. Sincethanthislist is expanded to include more than twenty-five titles. Ifthe Armenian Numismatic Societyistojustifyitsexistenceweneedtocontinuepublishingthesetitles,atleastone everyotheryear. Ourpresentfinancialconditionsdonotencouragesuchactivity. Nowthatyouhavehadanexplanationofourfinancialcondition,pleasefeelfreeto makeagenerousdonationtotheSociety,whenthespiritleadsyou. Sincerelyyours, LutherEskijian,President ARMENIANNUMISMATICJOURNAListhequarterlypublicationofArmenianNumismaticSoci- ety,aneducational,non-profitorganization.Editor,Y.T.Nercessian,8511 BeverlyParkPlace, PicoRivera,CA90660-1920,USA(e-mail,[email protected]).AssociateEditors,W.Ge- wenianandT.Nercessian,CorrespondingEditors,L.A.Saryan(Greenfield,—Wl)andH.Sarkissian (Erevan).Non-membersubscriptions$30.00peryear. ISSN0884-0180 LCCN85-649443 ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIV(1998) 1 NEWS “EducationalAward”—Dr.LeonA.Saryanhascontributedtotheadvancementof numismaticsbysharingknowledgeof«MedievalCoinsofCilicianArmenia, 1080-1375 A.D.»inapresentationbeforetheChicagoCoinClubonOctober8, 1997.Awardedby American NumismaticAssociation. favoIratmotmhoerenutmhiasnmagtlaidsttsomofaktheetwhiosrledxtwriatdhuaelslpthaeymweonrtkfyorou19d9o8.reYsoeuaracrheidnogiAnrgmaengrieaant subjects.IcannotreadArmenian,butIdoreadtheEnglishpart.Keepupthegoodwork. TN.orPt.hRoAcnkdwoevlelr, MA Thank you for all your efforts in producing a most professional numismatic journalandbulletin. A.Tashchian Atlanta, GA We congratulate Mr.Y.T. Nercessian forthe fine effortinputtingouttheANS Journalallthesepastyears.Wehopehecontinuesthisexcellentjournalforthefuture yearsandhopeothersinhisareacangivehimahelpinghand. StephenT.Dulgarian Chelmsford, MA ...IlookforwardreceivingtheJournalinthenewandtothecontinuedexcellenceof thispublication. DavidF.Malleau Bowmanville, ON yofouyroPuerrrecoheuonrbtbccyoa/ntavbleuorsgsiuanete.i.so.snfItrheoinmsjoteyhveetnhpirhnoogu,tgoIhgrwyaoopuuhlrsd.bulIlihkleeotptioensomraydnedcrhcitlahdrnreeeanpspwirilelvcleiroant.ee..dthaceoyirnfsoi,nmdafntrhcoiems anexcitinghobby. JulieKulhanjian,MD Piedmont, CA AsuecctBoinaodcnhkaIniandndAnpurImimilasomdfaetlaiasctnloyiteteaerrtaotIumrsyeaswreelcafentltiotltywlrepiuatrretciahcnalesdeidan,sktIhfoeobrtCaeailncaeotdpoyra.ac.n.o.npIoynuonafcybiounulgrknlyooottueordf Auction together with "Prices Realized." Congratulations on a neatly produced catalogue.Pleaseaddmynametoyourmailinglist... BasilC.Demetriadi Kifissia,Greece DPSalutabecj:ee:ct: llAaoyCmle9a,sosf1i9fM9irc8a,t/iM8or:ns0.0ofPYt..hMeT..,TeNStearrtacudersrdsaaicyahnmE,sve8on5fi1Tn1iggBreavneersltyhePaGrrkeaPtI.o,fPAircmoeRniivae,r”a,CA byY.T.Nercessian ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIV(1998) 2 COPPER COINS OF LEVON IV pjatei Y. T. Nercessian UponOshin’sdeath,hissonLevonIV(1320-1342)ascendedthethrone.Atthetime Levonwas ten years old.1 During Levon’s reign Mamluks continued to devastate the country and forced Cilician Armeniato pay such ahuge tributethatthe countrywas nearbankruptcy.DuetohisdomesticpolicyLevonwasassassinatedonAugust28,1342. Levon paid 1,200,000 takvorins annually as tribute to the Mamluks.2Manyofhis silver coins were overstruck with dies of al-Nasir Nasir al-Din Muhammad.3 The overstriking is done haphazardly and with very little care. Unearthed hoards reveal thatLevon IVregulartakvorins, overstrucktakvorins, and Islamicdirhamscirculated together.4 Levonruled22years.AfterHetoumI(45years)andLevonI(11+21=32)hehadthe longestreign. Therefore onewould expectto see many differentvarietiesinhis silver andcoppercoinage. CoinageofLevonIV The silver coins ofLevon IV are quite uniform exceptforinscription varieties and field marks.5During Levon’s reign, the quality as well as the workmanship declined: planchetswereverysmall,thin, andirregular,the designandengravingwasexecuted withlesscare,thedepth ofengravingwas shallow, andthesilverfinenessofthealloy declined drastically. In short, it is very difficult to find silver coins (or copper coins) executedwithcareindesirableandmuseumqualitycondition. ThecoppercoinageofLevonIVconsistsofaverysmallcoin,calledpogh,similarto Oshin’s coppercoins. Additionally,he struckalargecoppercoin, similartothekardez ofGosdantin I. Many coin dealers who cannot readArmenian erroneouslyhave listed LevonIVlarge poghsunderKingGosdantinI. Theselargercoppers, calledlargepogh, arescarceandexecutedwithmuchgreatercarethanthepoghs.LargepoghsofLevonIV weightwentypercentlessthanthekardez ofGosdantin I orLevonIII astabulatedin 1J.deMorgan,TheHistoryoftheArmenianPeople(Boston,1965),pp.247-250. 2V.Langlois,LeTresordesChartesd'Armenie,ouCartulairedelachancellerieroyaledeRoupeniens (St.Lazare,Venice,1863,pp.232-233. 3Balog,TheCoinageoftheMamlukSultansofEgyptandSyria(NewYork,1964),pp.146-147,pi.VIII, Nos.213a-213f. 4O.Codrington,"OnaHoardofCoinsFoundatBroach,"JournaloftheBombayBranch,RoyalAsiatic Society,Vol.XV(1881-1882),pp.367-370,Nos.38-43,pi.4,Nos.26-28;L.Y.Rahmani,"A14thCenturyHoard from Tiberias," IsraelNumismaticJournal, Vol.II(1964),Nos.3-4,pp.47-48;Balog,p.146;A.D.Fahmy, "ContributionstotheMamlukCoinage,"BulletindeI'lnstitutd'Egypte,Vol.L(1968-1969),pp.5-36(inArabic). 5P.Z.Bedoukian,CoinageofCilicianArmenia (CCA)(NewYork,1962),pp.94-95,368-374,Nos.1948-1995, pis.XLII-XLIII;Y.T.Nercessian,Armenian CoinsandTheirValues(ACV)(LosAngeles,1995),pp.158-161, p\s.37-38. ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIV(1998) 3 Y.T.Nercessian Table I. The indications are that the kardez or large pogh was short-lived and discontinuedinfavorofregularpogh. Commentsonsubjectcoins Areview ofTableI demonstratesthattheweightofcoppercoinsremained almost constantduringthereignsofLevonIandHetoumI. Fromthenontheweightdeclined continuously. FromHetoumIItoSmpad,theweightwasreduceddrasticallytoapoint tLheavtonitIwIaIsthcealwleedigphotghwaisnstienacdreoafsekdarvdeerzy.cHloowseevteor,thdeurHientgotuhmerIIeikganrodfezGowsediagnhtti.nUIndaenrd Oshinthedeclinecontinuedanditseemsthatanaverageweightcloseto1.5gramswas adoptedasthestandardweightofhiscoppercoins.TableIdatashowssomevariationin theweightsofthecoppercoinsofeachkingafterLevonIV.Basedontheaverageweight of1.24 grams of98 copperpoghs (Levon IVto LevonV), thesevariations maynotbe considered abnormal. Here it must be noted that the weight ofcopper coins was not tightly controlled similar to silver coins since they were generally used for domestic commerce and notforinternationaltrading. TableI. Average weight6ofCilicianArmenianroyalcoppers j^u}er Regnal period Denomination AverageWtg. Specimens LevonI 1198-1219 Tank 7.04 27 HetoumI 1226-1270 Tank 7.08 42 Kardez (equestrian) 4.36 14 Kardez(seated) 4.30 33 LevonII 1270-1289 Tank 6.24 02 Kardez 4.47 10 HetoumII 1289-1305 Kardez(bothtypes) 3.74 26 Smpad 1296-1298 Pogh 1.97 19 GosdantinI 1298-1299 Kardez 3.14 07 LevonIII 1301-1307 Kardez 3.25 11 Oshin 1308-1320 Pogh 1.48 10 Levon IV 1320-1342 LargePogh 2.40 14 Pogh 1.33 70 Guy 1342-1344 Pogh 1.33 04 GosdantinIII 1344-1363 Pogh 1.09 04 LevontheUsurper 1363-1365 Pogh 1.48 03 Gosdantin IV 1365-1373 Pogh 0.95 05 LevonV 1374-1375 Pogh 0.79 12 t1o57co6msaAplvueetreaangtdheeawuaecvitegirhoatngecisawtceaiolgmohgptuuethseadsanbndyoaurutetilhlaoitrzii'onsngsnhmoietpterswoilatonhgditchcaeolltldoeatcattlaionnguiamvsebnereriqnuoifCrceCodAr.nsTchoirenpuenxsuipmsptbe^en1cr3e0.o-f41s0p,eSciNmSenpsp.u1s5e5d- 4 ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIV(1998) CopperCoinsofLevonIV Recently the author obtained some copper coins of Levon IV from the Ashed Donabedian auction (10 large poghs and48 poghs).7ThelateDonabedianhadtoldthe writerthatsomeofthecoppershehasarefromhoards.Admittedlyitisnotknownfor certain ifone ormorehoards are involved. A portion ofLevon IV coppers evaded the authorandwerepurchasedbyothers.8 A cursory checkindicated that purchased coins include unpublished varieties and quiteafewcoinssharethesamedies.Beforethecoinswerescattered,itwasconsidered prudenttocataloguethemforposterity(TableII, CatalogueofLevonIVcoppercoins). Mostpoghsaresopoorlypreservedthatdielinkagestudyisextremelydifficult.Insome casesitisveryhardtodistinguishifthethroneispeculiar,similartolargepoghthrone, or if it is ornamented with lions. Generally speaking, most poghs have a poor appearanceandarestruckwithlesscarethanthelargepoghs. Cataloguingthecoins Bedoukian’s classification scheme,9 accordingto completeness oflegend,was used toclassifythecoinsofLevonIVinTableII.Thefirstcolumninthecataloguegivesthe assigned specimen number. The second column references the catalogue number in Bedoukian’s Coinage ofCilician Armenia orNercessian’sArmenian Coins and Their Values (threedigitfigures). TheobverseArmenianlegendis atthetopoftheblockof coins, startingwith specimen number. The reverseArmenian inscriptionis printedin the third column. The fourth column indicates the obverse style (King/Throne) and if thethroneispeculiar(P)orornamentedwithlions (L)(Fig. 1). Thefifthcolumngives thereversecrosspatterns,respectively(Fig. 2). Columnsixistheweightofthecoinin grams. Columns seven and eight indicate the obverse/reverse matching dies when possible. The ninth columns gives the coin origin, exD (ex-Donabedian), YN, or JG. Othercoinsavailabletotheauthorwereaddedtothecatalogue.Anasteriskinthelast columnindicatesthosespecimensillustratedintheplate. Table III cross-references the drawings to the plates where illustrations ofcoins displaythosepatterns. TableII. CatalogueofLevonIVcoppercoins N+o.CCA/ACVNo. ReverseLeg. King/Throne f Wt Obv/RevDie Coll PI + + Largepoghs + 01 1999V + A/P a 2.35 YN 02 1999V + A/P a 2.13 XX exD 03 2000 + A/P a 1.97 XX ss YN 04 2000 A/P a 2.90 XX ss exD 05 2000 A/P a 2.82 XX exD 06 2000V A/P a 2.06 exD 7Spink,CoinAuction 102(March1994),"AncientandMedievalCoinsfromtheCollectionofProfessor AshedDonabedian(1923-1993),"lot434=10largepoghs,437=20poghs,438=28poghs(2outof28wereLevonV poghsinverypoorgradeofpreservation. 8Spink,CoinAuction102,lot435(12largepoghs)and436(23poghs). 9Bedoukian,CCA,pp.374-380,Nos.1996-2026. ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIV(1998) 5 Y.T.Nercessian N+o.CCA/ACVNo. ReverseLeg. King/Throne t Wt Obv/RevDie Coll PI + + Largepoghs 0+7 2000V A/P a 2.57 XX exD 08 2000V + A/P a 2.32 XX yy exD * + + 09 2000V A/P a 2.37 XX yy exD +10 2000V A/P a 2.56 XX yy exD * 11 2000V + A/P a 2.52 XX yy exD + + 12 2002 A/P a 2.23 YN 13 2003V A/P a 2.17 exD +14 2003/400 + A/P a 2.58 YN + Poghs + + 15 2017 + U D/P b 1.16 exD * 16 2017 + D/P b 1.61 exD * 17 2017 D/L a 1.34 exD 18 2017 D/P b 1.26 exD +19 2017 + D/L b 1.13 exD 20 2017 + D/P a 1.23 exD * + 2222212345 ————— ++++++ GGGGG/////PPPPP ccccc 11111.....3133356327 zzzzzzzzzz TwTWwwOWOw eeeeexxxxxDDDDD ** 2267 22001096V ++ DD//LL bb 11..3725 YexND 223333333333189023456789 222222222222000000000000222212222222000000080000V +++++++++++ DDDDDDDDDADD////////////LLLLLLLLLLLL bcbbbbcbcdbd 111111111111............312832432210473143308653 eeeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxxxxxDDDDDDDDDDDD * 40 2020 D/L c 1.29 exD 41 2020 D/L c 0.97 exD 42 2022V D/L c 1.16 exD 6 ArmenianNumismaticJournal, Vol.XXIV(1998)