Tiridates II - AE half unit - Short legend

Kovacs-205; Nurpetlian 2015, no. 27; ANRO-885

Tiridates II 217-252 AD
AE half unit
Obv. Bearded head of Tiridates II left, wearing short tiara with three or four peaks, diadem tied with large loop, beaded border.
Rev. Aramaic inscription in two lines.

The coins cautiously attributed to this king have been only recently published in any numbers and the reading of the king's name is still being debated. Two coins have been found in excavatations at ancient Artaxata in Armenia and others are reported to have been found there, so Armenian origin seems likely, if not certain. Tiridates's head surrounded by a wreath on the larger coins (unit) is likely emblematic of his success in thwarting the Sasanian attracks on his kingdom. On one of the two smaller denominations (half-unit) is a crudely drawn twin-peaked Mt. Ararat.

Kovacs, Frank L. “Armenian Coinage in the Classical Period” CNS 10, Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster, 2016, pp. 35.