The Central Bank of Armenia issued a gold commemorative coin dedicated to the 125th anniversary of great Armenian actor of a drama theater Vahram Papazyan on January 14th 2013..

This gold collector coin issued by the Central Bank of Armenia is dedicated to the 125th anniversary of birth of Vahram Papazyan.Vahram Kamer Papazyan (born 18.06.1888 in Constantinople, died 05.06.1968 in Leningrad) is a prominent Armenian dramatic actor. Papazyan acquired theatrical practice in Paris associating mostly with the masters of Italian stage. His premier performance where he acted as Othello (W. Shakespeare’s “Othello”) was in 1908 at the Armenian theatre in Constantinople. In 1922-1927 he was an actor of the First State Theater of Armenia and Armenian troupes in Tiflis and Baku. Papazyan performed in Leningrad, Riga, Tallinn, Kaunas, Paris, and starting from 1954 settled as an actor at the Yerevan Sundukyan Theater.Among Papazyan’s best roles are Othello, Lear, Hamlet (W. Shakespeare’s “Othello”, “King Lear”, “Hamlet”), Arbenin (M. Lermontov’s “Masquerade”), Protasov (L. Tolstoy’s “Dead Body Alive”), McGregor (W. Saroyan’s “My Heart’s in the Highlands”). Papazyan built up an exceptional theatrical character, with stressed spontaneity, harmonized sense of element and measure, unpredictable nature and ultimate persuasion.

Theater masks appear on the gold coin’s obverse, or heads. The nominal value of the coin—10,000 drams—is engraved on the background of a curtain at the bottom of the coin. The contour has “HAYASTANI HANRAPETUTYAN KENTRONAKAN BANK” (The Central Bank of the Republic of Armenia) inscription in Armenian letters.
The reverse of the coin, or tails, has a portrait of Papazyan, dates “1888” and “1968” are below, “VAHRAM PAPAZYAN” inscription in Armenian letters is in the right and left sides of the contour.

The coins are made of 900 fine gold of proof quality, its diameter is 22.0 mm, weight—8.6 grams. The banks issued 1,000 gold coins of 10,000-dram face value each. Designed by Eduard Kurghinyan. Minted in the Royal Dutch Mint

Source of information: Central Bank of Armenia