LEVON (LEO) I of CILICIA, 1198-1218, SILVER TRAM

My latest acquisition, I just love these.
King Leo seated on a throne of two lions, holding the round sceptre of Christendom and a lily, reverse two lions back to back facing each other, between them Armenian cross Pattee on spear.
LEVON I was the first king of Armenian Cilicia, of the Rubenid dynasty.
As the third Crusader army led by Frederick Barbarossa arrived in Anatolia, the Seljuks offered to let him pass in return for 300 pounds of gold and "the land of the Armenians". (apparently it had been tough to conquer that mountainous region ruled by the Armenian princes). Frederick declined and fought his way through Anatolia, settling his score at the battle of Iconium, where he routed the Seljuks armies. In 1190 he arrived quite depleted in Cilicia, (the "land of the Armenians" which he did not betray), where his armies were re-supplied and aided by the then Prince Levon. (He died on June 10, 1190, in the river Saleph in Cilicia).
For his deeds, Leo won the favor of Pope Celestine III, who approved of his coronation. He was crowned in 1198 in Tarsus, by the Pope's representative, the Archbishop Conrad of Mainz. Crowns were offered also by King Henry VI and Alexis III of Byzantium, all vying for influence over this new kingdom.

 

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The date is 1190 not ..

 

I have a coin of Levon I and others. I'll post it when I come back from work. Have a nice day.

 

Thanks for the correction, after the new millenium I mix up the centuries more frequently.

 

Wow, Joseph ... congrats on your sweet new coin-addition

=> it almost looks like it's made out of gold!! (I love it!!)

I have an example as well ... wanna see it?

ARMENIA, Cilician Armenia. Royal. Levon I.
AR Tram (Coronation issue)
1198-1219 AD
Diameter: 22 mm
Weight: 2.75 grams
Obverse: Levon seated facing on throne decorated with lions, holding cross and lis-tipped scepter
Reverse: Two lions rampant back-to-back, each with head reverted; between, cross pattée set on spear
Reference: AC 289




=> "4" lions on one coin => cha-ching!! (awesome coin-type) ... congrats again!!

 

That image looked very deceiving! At first, I thought it was a gold coin, but after doing a double and a triple take, it was indeed silver . It hit me really hard as for Cilician gold coins, we don't yet know if they are authentic or modern forgeries. See the following one that was auctioned off:




Anyway, Cilicia is one of my favorite areas of collecting. You can check out my gallery at FORVM for several coins throughout Cilicia's history here, but I need to upload several more coins from my collection that I recently added:

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=5122

Cilician Armenia: Levon II (1270-1289) AR Tram (Nercessian-376v; CCA-1429)

Obv: King on horseback to right, holding reins with left hand, and a cross in right hand with two bars extending over his right shoulder. Clockwise legend, ԼԵՒՈՆ ԹԱԳԱՒՈՐ ԱՄԵՆԱՅՆ ՀԱՅՈՑ (Lewon Tagawor Amenayn Hayo; Levon, King of all Armenians)
Rev: Crowned lion walking left, with left paw raised. Behind him a cross with two bars. Clockwise legend, ՇԻՆԵԱԼ Ի ՔԱՂԱՔՆ Ի ՍԻՍ ԻՍ (Shineal i kaghakn i Sis; Struck in the city of Sis)

 

Here's a bronze one of Levon I .

 

Here is one from Hetoum II...

Cilician Armenia: Hetoum II (1289-1293,1295-1296,1301-1305) BI Denier (Nercessian-394, Bedoukian-1575aV)

Obv: King's head facing. Clockwise legend - ՀԵԹՈՒՄ ԹԱԳԱՒՈՐ (Hetowm Tagawor; "Hetoum the King") legend continued on reverse
Rev: Potent cross without field marks. Clockwise legend - ԱՄԵՆԱՅՆ ՀԱՅՈՑ (Amenayn Hayots; "of all Armenians")

 

Lovely and interesting posts everyone!! Congrats all!!

 

Don't know about gold but if its real, looks nice. I just have silver too.


LEVON I (1198-1219 A.D.)
AR TRAM ARMENIA
O: +ԼԵՒՈՆ ԹԱԳԱԵՈՐ ՀԱՅՈ: King enthroned, right foot turned sideways, holding globus cruciger in right hand and lys in left.
R: +ԿԱՐՈՂՈՒԹՆ ԱՍՏՈՒԾՈՅ: 0L long cross, dot in an angle at centre, three dots at base, rampant lions either side, head reverted.
Mint: uncertain, 1198-1219 AD
21 mm
2.9 gm
Bedoukian 498

 

This is a beautiful one. Interesting how the lower letters are worn down but details such as the reign are still vivid. The cross with two bars is described as the "Nahabedagan" or "Patriarchal" characteristic Armenian cross, and is seen depicted in images of St Gregory the Illuminator. I will have to find more references to that.

 

Wonderful. I wish mine were gold, but alas it was the lighting. I believe the coronation issue has a dove and another type of figure on the obverse, I will have to look it up in my references.

 

Hi all, this is apparently an image of the coronation issue of Levon I, I found online, and its value is up in the thousands apparently. The regular silver trams on the other hand range between $20-500. Obverse is virgin Mary with Levon kneeling. (Dove above?)

 

I don't know whom this medal could represent. I wish I could read Armenian.

 

ՎԱՐԴԱՆ = VARTAN
It is a medal commemorating the Battle of Avarayr in 451 AD of the Armenians. This is the most important battle in Armenian history, and is a national Holiday. Armenia then was split between Byzantium and Sassanid Persian influences, and was run by Barons. King Yazdegerd (Hazgerd) of Persia decided to forcibly convert Armenia into Zoroastrianism, but Vartan Mamikonian, the commander of the army, summoned an army and battled a Persian army four times its size. The Armenians were defeated and Vartan was killed in battle. However, the battle is considered a moral victory to Armenians, as the insurgency continued, and resulted in 481, at the Treaty of Nvarsak, Persia revising its policy, and allowing Armenia to retain its statehood and religion. (very brief).
If I have a better focus of the medal, I can read the rest. Do you know when and where this medal was originated?

 

Joseph => thanks for the coin correction (I merely went with the CNG seller's notes) ... I guess he must have made a mistake

https://cngcoins.com/Search.aspx?IS...1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_2=1&VIEW_TYPE=0


Hmmm, apparently I only paid a $70 hammer for my baby (it's always nice to score coins under their initial estimate, eh?)

 

I'm not sure about the origin of this historical medal. I think it might have been struck earlier last century in Lebanon. There's an important Armenian community in Beirut, Meten and Majdal AAnjar.

 

Nice pricing you got. Anything under $100 for this quality is a good deal.

 

Nice, I have one of those too, very shiny

 

Hello everone, I have the coronation issue and I am fairly certain it is gold. Might any one have some idea of how rare it is and its potential value and how I can go about selling it? I am a complete newbie. I'll post pictures if any one in this thread is still active. Thanks