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Chalkous - Artabanos
| Issuer | Sophene, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 275 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Chalkon (1⁄48) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of the king facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic tradition, enclosed within a beaded border. The portrait exhibits the characteristic Armenian-Iranian royal style of the early Sophene period, with the subject wearing what appears to be a soft cap or tiara. The flan is irregular and the strike somewhat weak, consistent with early hammered provincial bronze coinage. No legend is present on the obverse. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | [ΒAΣIΛEΩΣ] - APTABA[NOY] |
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| Additional information |
Sophene occupied the upper Euphrates region as a semi-autonomous Armenian principality, and coinage attributed to an Artabanos in this period sits at the uncertain boundary between Achaemenid administrative tradition and early Hellenistic local dynastic assertion. The name Artabanos is Iranian in origin, common among ruling families across the former Persian satrapies in the decades following Alexander's conquests.
Alram 236 places this issue within a tightly defined dynastic sequence, though the chronological brackets remain disputed among specialists of Armenian numismatics.