CNG 85, Lot: 30. Estimate $3000. Sold for $8500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of ARMENIA. Artavasdes II. 56-34 BC. AR Drachm (19mm, 3.94 g, 12h). Artaxata (Artashat) mint. Draped bust right, wearing five-pointed Armenian tiara decorated with comet star between two eagles / Charioteer driving quadriga left, holding statue of Nike; monogram to left, ς above. SCADA Group 1 (a3/p- [unlisted rev. die]); CAA 130; AC 124. VF, minor porosity. Rare.

From the R.A. Collection.

The son of Tigranes II, Artavasdes II ruled over a kingdom ever-wavering between Roman and Parthian influences. Initially allied with Rome, Artavasdes switched allegiance to Parthia following Orodes II’s defeat of Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BC. Armenia then returned briefly to Roman rule under Mark Antony, but that too ended upon Antony’s departure from the region. Angry over Artavasdes’ continued wavering, Antony’s consort and queen of Egypt, Cleopatra VII, ordered his beheading following the Battle of Actium, his head being sent to rival king and namesake, Artavasdes I of Media-Atropatene, as an offering of good will.