This silver collector coin is dedicated to the 125th anniversary of birth of Hovsep Orbeli (1887-1961), an outstanding orientalist, archaeologist and public figure. He was the first chairman of the National Academy of Science of Armenia, and director of the Hermitage of Leningrad in the period 1934-1951. Orbeli took part in excavations of Ani, west Armenia, joined a number of other archeological campaigns. He prepared the scientific description of what he found in Ani and the reliable guide of architectural and archeological memorials of Ani and the suburbs. Orbeli did a great job in obtaining items from private collections and making them a public property. He also devoted himself to compilation and translation activities as he wrote dialect dictionaries and translated the works of Armenian historians.