Armenian Coin With Book Design Wins Italian Award For Its ‘Clever’ C

ARMENIAN COIN WITH BOOK DESIGN WINS ITALIAN AWARD FOR ITS ‘CLEVER’ CONTENTS

10:30 28.02.2014

Central Bank of Armenia commemorative coin triumphed in an Italian
competition for Best Coin of the Year.

The Central Bank of Armenia was awarded Best Coin of the Year at a
numismatic fair held in Italy earlier this month.

Armenia’s winning entry was a silver commemorative coin dedicated to
the 500th anniversary of book printing in the country. Judges commented
on the “clever and original combination” of modern and classic imagery.

It was chosen ahead of a Kazakh coin that celebrates the exploration
of space.

The Italian competition – organised by Vicenza Numismatica – featured
a separate award designed to recognise the best coin design with an
architectural subject. The winner was a Belarussian coin depicting the
evolution of a railway station in Minsk, while a colourful offering
from Macau took second place, Central Banking reports.

Five hundred pieces of the winning Armenian coin were minted, and
they entered into circulation in 2012. Each coin has a nominal value
of 1,000 Armenian dram ($2.50).

The first Armenian book – ‘Urbatagirq’ – was printed by Hakob Meghapart

in 1512. The central bank described it as a collection of prayers
and wishes that notably featured the Book of Lamentations by Grigor
Narekatsi – a poem renowned for “the sincere immediacy of its
communication with God”.

The reverse of the coin features an image of Urbatagirq itself,
a copy of the

stamp used by Meghapart to mark his books, and an intricately designed
scene from Venice – the city where his work was first launched.

The obverse, meanwhile, celebrates the decision of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to make Yerevan,
the Armenian capital, the World Book Capital in 2012, a title that
has since passed to Port Harcourt in Nigeria.

From: A. Papazian