On March 25, 2024, the Central Bank of Armenia put into circulation two gold collector coins dedicated to the 100th anniversaries of birth of Sergey Parajanov and Paruyr Sevak.
Collector coin dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Sergey Parajanov’s birth
SERGEY PARAJANOV (Sarkis Parajaniants, 1924-1990), a renowned Armenian film director, screenwriter, master of collage, and People’s Artist of the Armenian and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics (1990).
Parajanov was born in Tiflis (Tbilisi) and received his secondary education there. In 1945, he was admitted to the directing department of the State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow. Beginning in 1952, he worked at the Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kiev, where he filmed “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” (1964), which brought him international recognition.
In 1969, at the Hayfilm studio, Parajanov directed “The Color of Pomegranates” (“Sayat-Nova”), which is considered a masterpiece of cinema. In the film, he implements his own innovative ideas, disclosing the unseen and the spiritual through objects, symbols, and rituals of his own creation. The authorities of the time disapproved of this and others of Parajanov’s films, forbade him from filming, and imprisoned him. However, Parajanov did not stop working and instead directed his creative energy toward making drawings, collages, dolls, hats, and other works of art.
Upon having the opportunity to make films again, Parajanov directed the internationally recognized “The Legend of Suram Fortress” (1984), and, in 1987, was invited abroad for the first time to participate in the Rotterdam Film Festival in the Netherlands, where the film won first place in the “Most Innovative Film” category.
To this day, Parajanov’s art continues to inspire many artists and filmmakers around the world.
More than a thousand of the artist’s works are held at the Sergey Parajanov Museum, which has been operating in Yerevan since 1991.
Obverse: scene from Sergey Parajanov’s “The Color of Pomegranates”, the monument to Parajanov at the Komitas pantheon, Yerevan (sculptor: A. Shiraz, 1999).
Reverse: portrait of Sergey Parajanov, excerpts from his collages titled “Variation with Shell on the Theme of Pinturicchio and Rafael”, 2nd version, dedicated to V. A. Katanyan (1989), “Weeping Gioconda (1977) and “Portrait of Daniel Olbrychski” (1980).
Designers: Haroutiun Samuelian (obverse), Anna Kurghinyan (reverse).
The coin is minted at the Mint of Poland.
Technical specification։
Face value – 10 000 dramս
Metal/fineness – gold 9000
Weight – 8,6 g
Diameter – 22,0 mm
Quality – proof
Edge – ribbed
Quantity of issue – 300 pcs
Year of issue – 2024
Collector coin dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Paruyr Sevak’s birth
PARUYR SEVAK (Ghazaryan, 1924-1971), prominent Armenian poet, literary critic, translator, and public figure.
Sevak graduated from the YSU Faculty of Philology in 1945, then earned a master’s degree from the Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences M. Abeghyan Institute of Literature (1948), where he worked as a researcher from 1963 to 1971. From 1951 to 1956, he studied at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow, where he lectured in the Literary Translation department from 1957 through 1959.
From 1966 to 1971, he served as Secretary of the Board of the Writers’ Union of Armenia.
In 1969, the writer was awarded a Doctor of Philology degree for his “Sayat-Nova” monograph.
Sevak’s poems have been published since 1942. “Immortals Command” (1948) is the writer’s inaugural booklet. Among his later works, the “With You Again” (1957) collection stands out, demonstrating the poet’s new creative heights.
The lyrical and philosophical poem “The Unsilenceable Belfry” (awarded the Armenian SSR State Prize in 1967) depicts the fate of Komitas, together with the fate of the Armenian people.
Sevak’s “Man in a Palm” (1963) and “Let There Be Light” (1971) collections encompass philosophical works revealing the nature of modern man and highlighting human experiences.
Sevak has translated the works of Adam Mickiewicz, Alexander Pushkin, Hristo Botev, Mikhail Lermontov, Yanka Kupala, Rainis, Valery Bryusov, Irakli Abashidze, Eduardas Miezelaitis, and others.
Sevak’s poems have been translated into numerous languages.
Streets and schools throughout Armenia have been named after Sevak, as have a neighborhood and a street in Yerevan and a village in Ararat marz. The Paruyr Sevak House-Museum has been operating in the poet’s birthplace of Zangakatun village since 1981.
Obverse: image of church belfry, book cover of “Man in a Palm” (illustrator: Kh. Gyulamiryan, 1963).
Reverse: portrait of Paruyr Sevak, his signature, quill pen with Sevak’s “Armenia” (1950) poem in background.
Designer: Eduard Kurghinyan.
The coin is minted at the Mint of Poland.
Technical specification
Face value – 10 000 dram
Metal/fineness – gold 9000
Weight – 8,6 g
Diameter – 22,0 mm
Quality – proof
Edge – ribbed
Quantity of issue – 300 pcs
Year of issue – 2024
Collector coins are made of precious metals and are issued to present to the society the national, international, historical and cultural, spiritual and other values of the country, to immortalize these values in the metal and to meet the demands of the numismatic market.
Like any other currency the collector coins have face value which makes them the means of payment. However, the face value of these coins is much lower that their cost price which includes the cost of the precious metal used for manufacturing of the coin, mintage and other expenses. Low face value and high cost price allow these coins to be considered as the items of collection and not the means of payment used in money circulation. The collector coins have also the sale price set by the Central Bank of Armenia.
As the items of collection the collector coins are issued in very restricted quantities and are not reissued.
Numismatists, collectors and all interested persons can buy the Armenian collector coins in the sales salon “Numismatist” which is in the building of the Central Bank of Armenia and is open for everyone.
