Collector coins of the Republic of Armenia-2012
Dear reader
The annual journal "Collector Coins of the Republic of Armenia 2012" presents the collector coins issued by the Central Bank of Armenia in 2012 on occasion of important celebrations and events of the year.
The year 2012 was full of landmark events at both international and local levels. Armenia's capital Yerevan was proclaimed the 12th International Book Capital, and in the timespan from April 22, 2012 to April 22, 2013 large-scale measures and festivities were held not only in Armenia but also abroad. The book festival got together the world's writers, publishers, librarians, book traders and, in general, booklovers everywhere. The year saw a great diversity of events which were held in cooperation with other countries. Those events included book exhibitions, international fairs, contests ("Best Literary Work", "Best Thematic Posters"), a variety of projects ("Give-A-Book Day"), workshops, and film premieres. The Central Bank of Armenia celebrated the book festival by issuing the collector coin "500th Anniversary of Armenian Book Printing".
In 2012, the 20th anniversaries of formation of Armenian Army and liberation of Shushi were celebrated with great enthusiasm. On this occasion, the Central Bank of Armenia issued the gold and silver coins "20th Anniversary of Formation of Armenian Army" and the gold coin "20th
Anniversary of Liberation of Shushi". The 20th anniversary of signing Collective Security Treaty and the 10 years of the Organization of Treaty were celebrated by issuing a collector coin dedicated to those landmark events. The military and political alliance between Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan was created on 15 May 1992
by signing Collective Security Treaty. This plays an important role in maintaining peace and security, as well as non-proliferation of weapons in the region.
Notable events included the 300th anniversary of birth of famous poet-singer Sayat-Nova and 125th anniversary of birth of great scholar, orientalist Joseph Orbeli. The contribution of these individuals to the development of Armenian art and science is irreplaceable.
As in previous years, in 2012 too, the Central Bank of Armenia participated in the international numismatic program "History of Armenia" by issuing six collector coins of the series "Armenian Monasteries and Churches". These are dedicated to the famous monastery complexes which
were major religious, educational, scientific and cultural centers in Armenia in the Middle Ages.
In the end of this address I am proud to announce that coins of the series "Cross-stones of Armenia" and the coin dedicated to the 2200th anniversary of foundation of Artashat, the fourth capital of Armenia, earned honorary awards at the international numismatic contest "Coin Constellation-2012" which, undoubtedly, points to a good thematic content, professional design and high mintage quality of Armenian collector coins.
Arthur Javadyan
Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia