Republic of Artsakh Coin | 5 Dram

The 5 dram coin from the Republic of Artsakh comes from a short-lived and politically unusual monetary system. Artsakh declared independence in the early 1990s during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and later issued its own currency, the Artsakh dram, even though everyday commerce overwhelmingly used the Armenian dram instead. Coins like the 5 dram were legal tender locally but circulated very little in practice, functioning more as symbols of statehood than as working money. As a result, most examples that exist today survived with minimal wear and entered the numismatic market directly rather than through long circulation.

Several 5 dram designs were produced, most notably beginning in 2004, with imagery emphasizing Armenian cultural and national identity in the region. Today, the 5 dram coin is collected not for its denomination or precious metal content, but because it represents a vanished political entity and one of the few tangible artifacts of Artsakh’s brief attempt at independent coinage.

Ancient Artifacts guarantees the Authenticity of items sold through a three layer system of protection: 

1. Ancient Artifacts exclusively sources artifacts from trusted and reputable antique distributors, many of whom have been selling Artifacts for decades.  
2. Next, the Artifact is inspected by an expert team member, who is professionally trained in counterfeit detection After the artifact passes inspection, the Certificate of Authenticity is signed and the Artifact is packaged. 
3. Finally, Ancient Artifacts gives an additional layer of protection by promising a full refund with no questions asked, in the extremely unlikely event that a counterfeit slips through our vetting process.

Your coin will look very similar to the ones shown in the photos.

These come from a limited, modern minting that never entered heavy circulation, since the Artsakh dram was largely symbolic and everyday transactions relied on Armenian currency. Large numbers were retained in government or distributor stocks and later dispersed into the collector market, which is why examples remain widely obtainable today. After Artsakh ceased functioning as a de facto state, the coins lost any monetary role and are now treated purely as numismatic objects, making their private ownership and sale legal in the United States and most other countries. As a result, they are commonly sourced through established numismatic dealers, coin shows, and auctions rather than recovered from circulation or archaeological contexts, and their availability reflects preserved surplus rather than rarity in the ground.