Tigranes I 121-96 BC (Kov 51-53)

Tigranes I (BNP [1]) was the brother of Artavasdes II whom he succeeded upon the latter's defeat at the hands of Mithradates II of Parthia in 121 BC. Although there is no historical record of Artavasdes's death, it must have been in 121 BC as there is numismatic evidence for an era of Tigranes beginning in that year.

Little is known of this first Tigranes's reign. He was a vassal of the Parthian king while his son and crown prince Tigranes remained a royal hostage at the Parthian court. Tigranes's death can be fixed by a Babylonian astronomical diary dated to SE216=96/95BC which reports that "the king of Armenia died."

The coins of Tigranes I, like those of his predecessor, Artavasdes I, are rare for such a long reign. Three reverse types have been identified, but the total number of all coins surviving is very small. The types: eagle, cornucopia, and thunderbolt, are unremarkable, "stock" images derived from Seleucid or Parthian types, which give no indication of important events, if any, in this reign. Stylistically, the coins are similar to the preceding reign and may well have been the product of the same engraver. Tigranes continues the use of megas.

Kovacs, Frank L. “Armenian Coinage in the Classical Period” CNS 10, Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster, 2016, pp. 11.