Armenia and Armenian Coins

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Obverse of 2000 Armenian 2000 Drams

Reverse of 2000 Armenian 2000 Drams

Ancient Kingdom
During the ancient period, Armenia was used by both the Parthians/Persians and the Romans as a buffer state, and both Empires vied for control over Armenia by trying to put their own candidates on the Armenian throne.

Religion
Historically a Zoroastrian country, Armenia is said to have been the first nation to officially convert to Christianity in 301 A.D. It maintained its apostolic church national religion in spite of constant invasions by the Orthodox Christian Byzantines, Zoroastrian Sassanids, and Muslim Turks. Armenia’s comparative isolation, economic backwardness and mountainous terrain probably persuaded its various nominal overlords to generally leave Armenia as an autonomous province, rather than one under direct rule.

Armenia Under the Ottomans
Armenians were generally viewed by the Ottomans with distrust. As the Ottoman Empire declined throughout the 19th Century, many of its former provinces, such as Greece, Bulgaria and Egypt began to declare independence. As demands for further autonomy in Armenia increased, the Ottomans began to resort to brutality to squash these demands. In the 1890s, a series of massacres, imprisonments and expulsions, known as the Hamidian Massacres, resulted in a considerable depopulation of Armenia.

During World War One, more massacres and induced famine resulted in over a million deaths, setting the stage for a century of genocide and democide in many parts of the world for a large part of the 20th Century. By 1917, much of Armenia was under Russian Occupation, but the Bolshevik Revolution saw Armenia once again break free and declare independence. However, in 1920, Armenia was once again defeated by Turkish forces and forced to submit to Turkish power.

Soviet Armenia
The nominally independent Armenia was invaded by the Bolshevik Russians in 1922, and the Armenian Republic was dissolved and incorporated into the Soviet Union. Under Soviet rule, the Armenians enjoyed a slightly better quality of life than they had under the Ottomans. However, this changed when Stalin came to power and Armenia once again suffered from purges and deportations.

Independence
As the Soviet Union Collapsed, Armenia declared independence in 1990, the first of the non-European Soviet Republics to do so. In spite of this, Russia remains perhaps Armenia’s closest ally. Armenia’s economic struggles since independence have led to widespread emigration, resulting in a large Armenian diaspora that has itself become a fairly important source of foreign income.

Armenian Coins
Coins have been used in Armenia since Hellenistic Times. Greek-style issues where used until the late Roman Period, when they were replaced by Diocletian-reform style Roman coins. The crusader period saw the introduction of denier-style hammered coinage used throughout the medieval coinage.

During periods of domination by various imperial powers, the Armenians used the currency of those powers.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Armenian Dram was introduced (the word ‘Dram’ being derived from the Greek word ‘Drachm’), divided into 100 luma. Coins of 10, 20 and 50 luma where struck, in addition to 1, 3, 5 and 10 Dram. All of these coins were struck in Aluminium. By 2003, high inflation had rendered the luma obsolete, and new coins struck in 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 Dram denominations were introduced. Only the 10 Dram was struck in Aluminium. The 20, 50 and 100 Drams were struck in plated steel, the 200 Dram is struck in brass, and the 500 Dram is bimetallic with a brass outer ring and a cupronickel centre.

For Sale and Wanted
If you are interested in coins from Armenia please see our product index:-
Armenian Coins

Gold Coins
We also have gold coins from Armenia on our taxfreegold website:-
Armenian Gold Coins