Armenia commemorative coin dedicated to Charles Aznavour's 100th birth anniversary is put into circulation

The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) on Monday puts into circulation the “100th Anniversary of Charles Aznavour’s Birth” gold collector coin, Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned from the CBA.

Collector Coin Dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of Charles Aznavour’s Birth.

CHARLES AZNAVOUR (1924–2018), prominent French-Armenian singer, songwriter, film actor, writer, and public figure.

Aznavour was born in Paris to an Armenian immigrant family that escaped the Armenian Genocide.  From a young age he had a strong interest in art. He began his professional career in the 1940s. In 1956 he gained universal recognition after performing at the Olympia concert hall in Paris.

During his musical career, Aznavour wrote and co-wrote more than 1000 songs, including “La mamma”, “La Bohème”, “Hier encore” (“Yesterday, When I Was Young”), “Sa jeunesse” (“The Wine оf Youth”), “She”, “Les Deux Guitares” (“Two guitars”), “Une vie d’amour”, “Ave Maria,” and others, and recorded close to 1400 songs in various languages. Among the songs dedicated to Armenia are “Pour toi Arménie” (“For You, Armenia”), “Ils sont tombés” (“They Fell”), “Tendre Arménie” (Tender Armenia). Aznavour appeared in more than 90 films and has authored a number of books.

After the devastating Spitak earthquake of 1988, Aznavour founded the Aznavour for Armenia association, and, in 2016, together with his son Nicolas Aznavour, created the Aznavour Foundation with the goal of implementing educational, social, and cultural programs.

He has received numerous state awards and titles, including the French Legion of Honor (knight, officer, and commander ranks), a designation of National Hero of Armenia and the Order of Motherland. Beginning in 2009, Aznavour served as Armenia’s Ambassador to Switzerland and as Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva.

Aznavour’s work is a unique interweaving of poetry, music, and acting. Around 200 million Aznavour CDs have been sold to date.

One of Yerevan’s squares is named after Aznavour, and a monument to him has been erected in Gyumri.

Obverse: monument to Charles Aznavour in Gyumri (sculptor: S. Petrosyan, architect: A. Tarkhanyan, 2002). 

Reverse: portrait of Charles Aznavour, the number 100 in the form of stylized musical notes, piano keys and microphone.

Designers: Vardan Vardanyan (obverse), Karen Melikyan (reverse).

The coin is minted at the Mint of Poland.

Technical specification

Face value                          10 000 dram

Metal/fineness                               gold 9990

Weight                                8.6 g

Diameter                            22,0 mm

Quality                                 proof

Edge                                     ribbed

Quantity of issue             500 pieces

Year of issue                     2024

Notice

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.