Silver Tram of Levon I

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Al Kowsky, Dec 13, 2020.

  1. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    Earlier this year I bought an interesting medieval coin from Cilician Armenia, that depicted the king Levon I. I can remember reading about this king & the important part he played in the 3rd Crusade & his victories over the Seljuk Turks. For a short time he even controlled the Principality of Antioch. I've seen many of these coins at auction over the years & they appear to be common, never the less, I decided to add one to my collection :happy:.

    Armenia, Levon I, AD 1199-1219, Sis Mint, AR Tram, 3.01 gm, 22 mm, 10 h.jpg
    Cilician Armenia, King Levon I, AD 1199-1219, Sis Mint. Obverse: Levon I seated in throne decorated with lions, holding a globus cruciger & lis-tipped scepter. "Levon, king of the Armenians" in Armenian script. Reverse: Two lions & a patriarchal cross. "By the will of God" in Armenian script. AR Tram: 22 mm, 3.01 gm, 10 h.
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2020
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. John Conduitt

    John Conduitt Well-Known Member

    Yes they're common but they look great, particularly for Crusade-related coins (or anything from the C13 for that matter). I only have a bronze of Levon I, but they're big and beautiful too. A silver tram is on my list for 2021.

    Levon I Tank (0.2 Tram), 1198-1219
    upload_2020-12-13_23-17-5.png
    Bronze, Sis. 28mm, 6.90g. ԼԵԻՈՆ ԹԱԳԱՈՐ ՀԱՅԻՈՑ; Levon, King of the Armenians. Patriarchal cross ՇԻՆԵԱԼ Ի ՔԱՂԱՔՍ Ի ՍԻՍ; Struck in the city of Sis (Bedoukian 696).

    The script must be one of the most attractive, but even with the legends written in front of me I have quite a job reading them on the coin...
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2020
  4. AnYangMan

    AnYangMan Well-Known Member

    Love the detail on the lions!

    A nicely toned tram from his daughter and her not-so-very-beloved consort:

    [​IMG]

    Cilician Armenia, Hethum I & Zabel. AR Tram (1226 - 1270, Sis)
     
  5. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ..nice coin...i have one that is overstuck in Arabic as payment to the Mamluks paid by Levon IV(1320-1342)...it could be a coin of any of the Levons I-IV before being overstuck i reckon (ID courtesy of the knowledgeable peeps at CT).. templar double rider 001.JPG templar double rider 002.JPG
     
  6. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Great coins everyone! (figgerred @+VGO.DVCKS would pile on!)

    This is the only LEVON that I can contribute:

     
    paschka, +VGO.DVCKS, Ryro and 4 others like this.
  7. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ..he called his child Jesus....
     
    Alegandron likes this.
  8. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    Nice addition.

    [​IMG]
    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
     
  9. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    Nice, I think the Armenian coinage in general is quite weil-made for medieval Europe. My only piece is this AR takvorin of Gosdantin III (1344-1362):
    Cilician Armenia.jpg
     
  10. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    [​IMG]
    Constantine IV, King of Armenia *Gosdantin IV* (1365-1373 A.D.)
    AR Takvorin
    O: +ԿՈՍՏԸ(ԱՆԴԻՆ) (ԹԱԳԱ)ՈՐ ՀՈՑ, King riding right holding cross sceptre, below horse s
    R.+ՉԻՆԱԼ Ի ՔԱՂԱՔՆ Ի ՍԻՍ , lion right, right paw raised, cross in back, below s.
    Sis (now Kozan, Turkey) mint,
    18mm
    1.98g
    Bed.2106
     
  11. Evan Saltis

    Evan Saltis OWNER - EBS Numis LLC Supporter

    I had the chance to get an MS example of this coin slabbed by NGC I think. I wish I got it but I was busy and it was taken in auction at the last moment. Your coin looks amazing!
     
  12. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    Rats, no easily findable .jpgs. But I like how the trams get their name from dirhams and trachea (ultimately from the drachm), but opt for a module and composition nearer to contemporaneous Ayyubid dirhams than Byzantine scyphate trachea. ...And how the module reappears in the no less contemporaneous Venetian grossi. ...Which name is adopted in western Europe (gros, groat), but with yet another, completely different module.
     
  13. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I collect coins but there are many coins I do not collect including anything too modern to suit my whim. The Levon tram is a bit new but is a design that always appealed to me (love those lions) so I got one from the February Frank Robinson sale. As I recall the one he listed was nicer than mine (facial detail on both obverse lions) but he had 'backup stock' and sent me one for what I had bid that was not all that bad but not spectacular. I am not a 'spectacular' collector so I was happy to have it. How much extra is a lion face and two lion rears worth? I do wonder how many he had and sent out to other 'losers'. I still 'need' an AE tank but that is a need that may or may never happen since I am not in a hurry for coins I do not really collect. As I get older, I wonder when I will decide I have enough coins that I do not collect. The coin was my favorite of 2020 in the $30-39 bracket from my secondary list.
    https://www.cointalk.com/threads/2020-coins-by-price-bracket-–-dougsmit.370881/
    v00080rp0774.jpg
     
  14. Quant.Geek

    Quant.Geek Well-Known Member

    Here are two coins that are ranked high on my favorite Armenian coins:

    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)

    [​IMG]

    Cilician Armenia, Seljuq of Rum: Hetoum I and Kaykhusraw II Bilingual Tram (Album-1221, Nercessian-325)
    In compliance with a peace treaty previously signed by Levon I with the Seljuq Sultan of Rum, Kaykhusraw I, Hetoum struck silver coins bearing both Armenian and Arabic legends. Known as bilingual issues, Hetoum struck them first with Kaykhusraw’s son, Kayqubad I, and later with Kayqubad’s son, Kaykhusraw II.

    Obverse:
    King on horseback trotting to right holding sceptre over right shoulder, a cross above horse’s
    tail and crescent over horse’s head. Armenian legend around - ՀԵԹՈՒՄ ԹԱԳԱՒՈՐ ՀԱՅՈՑ, Hethum King of the Armenians

    Reverse:
    السلطان الاعظم, The Sublime Sultan
    غياث الدنيا والدين, Protector of the World and Faith
    كيخسرو بن كيقباد, Kaykhusraw, Son of Kayqubad

    Reverse Top Margin:
    ضرب ﺑﺴﻴﺲ سنة أربع و, Struck in the City of Sis, the Year Four and

    Reverse Left Margin:
    أربعون, Forty

    Reverse Right Margin:
    وستمائة, And Six Hundred

    [​IMG]
     
  15. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    ...Oh, No, @Quant.Geek, did you Really Land Both of these bilingual ones?
    Fireworks are going off in my head. ...No, I don't speak 'Grail Coin' with any fluency --always more about the main chance (thank you, in real time)-- but, other things being equal, this would be one of them.
     
    Quant.Geek likes this.
  16. Quant.Geek

    Quant.Geek Well-Known Member

    I find it soothing and intellectual to transcribe coins in their native scripts, if possible :), but its a lot of work...
     
    +VGO.DVCKS and Theodosius like this.
  17. +VGO.DVCKS

    +VGO.DVCKS Well-Known Member

    ...Do you do this by hand, along with the fonts you can find online? Only asking because, in the former case, you would only have that much more of my respect than you do already. (...S'il vou plait, considérer le source.)
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2020
  18. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    There are some impressive Armenian coins in this thread :jawdrop:! I find the Armenian calligraphy attractive & the bilingual & overstruck coins fascinating :cool:.
     
    +VGO.DVCKS likes this.
  19. DBDc80

    DBDc80 Numismatist

    Levon....levon likes his money....he makes a lot they say...:cigar:
     
    Evan Saltis and ominus1 like this.
  20. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    This coin for less than $39 looks like a early Christmas gift :smuggrin:.....
     
    Evan Saltis likes this.
  21. Quant.Geek

    Quant.Geek Well-Known Member

    Oh no, that would take ages to do! I use several reference books, Google Translate, BabelMap (https://www.babelstone.co.uk/Software/BabelMap.html), Aksharamukha (http://aksharamukha.appspot.com/converter), and other tools to help.
     
    Sulla80 and +VGO.DVCKS like this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page