Levon I - unable to pin down the attribution

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by cmezner, Jul 14, 2025 at 10:19 PM.

  1. cmezner

    cmezner do ut des Supporter

    Recently I won a multiple lot of 30 coins in which there are many medievals. I was interested in the lot because there were two Greek coins in it.:D

    Now, I'm stuck with several medievals that obviously have no measures nor attribution. Just today I finished measuring almost all of them and I'm having a hard time trying to find the attributions.:(

    This one came with a flip that just says "Armenia - Levon I AE / Copper Tank".

    There are a great many Levon I coins in "Coins of Cilician Armenia" by Bedoukian that I found here:
    https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b687478&view=1up&seq=7

    The legends are in Armenian - which I can't read, I think this coin could be either B. 718 – 719 or B. 753-754 , but they all look the same to me.:confused:

    Here on p. 219 are the numbers 718 - 719:
    https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ptid=uc1.$b687478&view=1up&seq=267&q1=Levon+I+Tank

    This is the coin:
    AE Tank
    Cilician Armenia, Sis, 1199 – 1218

    27.54 x 28.47 mm, 7.544 g; 5h
    Bedoukian (Coins of Cilician Armenia, p. 219 (pdf. 267) 718 – 719 or 753-754 (???)

    Ob.: Bearded leonine head of King Levon I facing 3/4 to r., crown with six dots and single curl. Armenian legend around (+Levon King of the Armenians)
    Rev.: Patriarchal cross with two stars in fields. Armenian legend around. (+struck in the city of Sis)

    Is anyone here that can read the Armenian legends? Please help if you can:confused:

    upload_2025-7-14_21-13-35.png

    upload_2025-7-14_21-13-58.png
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. philologus_1

    philologus_1 Supporter! Supporter

    Great question! I just invested about an hour in trying to figure it out, but ended up in dazed (and baffled) wonder at the intricacies of these. Bedoukian's comment on page 76 re: the coins of Levon I appears to be an understatement:

    upload_2025-7-15_7-57-50.png

    I have a VERY similar coin myself that came with an attribution of Bedoukian 696, which I presumed to be a correct attribution. But as a result of your post and my subsequent pouring through the Bedoukian reference, I now know it can't be 696. Similar to you, I narrowed it down to 715-719 or 752-754 (based on the "6 dots" and a "single curl" which our two examples have in common).

    Below is my coin. And like you, I would welcome assistance in a precise attribution:
    upload_2025-7-15_7-54-1.png

    p.s.: My hat is off in respectful recognition to Bedoukian for cataloguing this coinage!!! (And to those who now collect and decipher them!)
     
    nerosmyfavorite68 and Bing like this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page