Tipu Sultan - the Tiger of Mysore

Tipu Sultan (20 November 1750 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the Indian ruler who resisted the East India Company’s conquest of southern India. Opinion in England considered him a vicious tyrant, while modern Indian nationalists hail him as a freedom fighter. A flintlock blunderbuss, built for Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatna, 1793–94.

In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, the combined forces of the British East India Company and the Nizam of Hyderabad defeated Tipu, and he was killed on 4 May 1799 while defending his fort of Srirangapatna.

Tipu's Tiger, c.1790. Made for the amusement of Sultan Tipu; the tiger has a miniature organ with keyboard and bellows to simulate the groans of a dying British officer.

Inscribed Sword of Tipu Sultan. Former liquor magnate Vijay Mallya bought the sword in 2004 but gave it away saying it brought him bad luck.

Cannon used by Tipu Sultan at Srirangapatna in 1799

A gem-set sword bearing the head of a tiger from the armoury of Tipu Sultan headlined a sale at Bonhams. The lot made £2.1m ($3.1m) when it crossed the block in 2014.

A gem-encrusted gold tiger finial from the throne of Tipu Sultan sold for £434,400.

Tipu Sultan ruled a vast swathe of southern India during the 18th century. He fought ferociously against the British East India Company, but was defeated.

'In this world I would rather live two days like a tiger, than two hundred years like a sheep.' - Tipu Sultan

A 3-pounder bronze cannon sold for £1.4m ($2.1m). A flintlock pistol with left-hand lock, made for Tipu Sultan at Seringapatam, dated AD 1797-98.

Inscription on the barrel reads: 'The peerless rifle of the Khusraw of India to which the forked lightning in second can seal the enemy's fate if his forehead is made the target.'

A two shot superimposed-load silver-mounted flintlock from the armoury of Tipu Sultan, dated AD 1793-94. A pair of silver-mounted Flintlock pistols with left and right-hand locks, made for Tipu Sultan, dated AD 1794-95. Sold For: £134,500

A Tipu Sultan sword fitted with a captured English blade.

Ancient Gold

The ancient Egyptians believed their gods had skin made from gold.

The Aztec word for gold, teocuitlatl, literally translates as “excrement of the gods.” Gold has always had a special relationship with humans. Ancient views are quaint, but scientists have also struggled to fully understand the origins of gold. It was a puzzle how gold came into existence in the first place. The answer only arrived in 2017 with the first ever detection of gravitational waves. Those waves were produced by the merger of two neutron stars in an event known as a kilonova.

The source of the gravitational waves contained the signatures of gold and platinum in significant quantities. At long last, humans had discovered the cosmic deity capable of excreting gold.

Aquila - SPQR

Jaws flapped about Trump's use of the Nazi eagle.

Students of history would recognize the Nazi eagle as that stolen from the Romans. The Nazi swastika was also hijacked from ancient sources.

The word swastika comes from the Sanskrit svastika, which means “good fortune” or “well-being."

An aquila, or eagle, was a prominent symbol used in ancient Rome, especially as the standard of a Roman legion. A legionary known as an aquilifer, or eagle-bearer, carried this standard. Each legion carried one eagle.

The eagle was very important to the Roman military, beyond merely being a symbol of a legion. A lost standard was considered an extremely grave event. The Roman military often went to great lengths to protect a standard and to recover it if lost. In the aftermath of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest the Romans spent decades trying to recover the lost standards of the three destroyed legions. SPQR stood for Senatus Populusque Romanus. The meaning was "The Senate and People of Rome". No legionary eagles are known to have survived.

The first circulating coins

Little is known about this electrum (natural alloy of gold and silver) coin.

Ionia, Circa 650-600 BC. Hekte (one-sixth stater)

It was minted in Ionia, somewhere in central Western Anatolia on the shores of the Aegean, but the precise city-state that produced it is unknown. It could have been minted in Miletus, a city often referred to as the origin of the modern world. This type likely represents the first true coins which circulated in everyday use. This type are small, 1/24th staters which represented about a day’s pay. Larger denominations are rare. Even fewer trites (one-third stater) are known, and only three staters have ever been found.

During the excavation of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (present day Turkey near the Black Sea), a group of coins was found which are thought to be its 'foundation deposit', a custom that supposedly prevented the building from falling into ruin. The largest type in the group, a stater, had an inscription stating, 'I am the badge of Phanes'. It's meaning has been lost to antiquity. Coins revolutionized commerce, offering an accessible, neutral medium through which transactions could be processed quickly and fairly.

Golden Kingdoms: the Ancient Americas

Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas, was on view at the Getty Center in 2018 and traced the development of gold working and other arts in the ancient Americas from 1000 BC to the arrival of Europeans in the early 16th century. The exhibit revealed the ways ancient Americans used metals, jade, shell, and feathers.

Octopus Frontlet, 300–600, Moche culture

Ear Ornament Depicting a Warrior, 640–680, Moche culture

It was a world where feathers were more valuable than gold. The rarest feathers, including the iridescent green feathers of the quetzal, were reserved for the Aztec emperor himself.

The exhibition featured more than 300 works from 53 lenders in 12 countries.

The MET exhibition followed a specific historical and geographical path. It traced the development of gold-working in the Americas from its origins in the Andes, to its expansion northward into Central America, and finally to Mexico, where gold-working comes into its own only after 1000 AD.

Jade plaque showing a seated king and palace attendant, 600–800 AD

Roman Solidus of Julian

A rare solidus of Julian, in G to VF condition, was struck in Constantinople and is estimated around $2,500. Introduced in the fourth century, the solidus replaced the aureus.

Julian II (360-363) was a successful military commander who waged one of the largest campaigns of Roman history against the Sassanid Empire. Julian the Apostate fell in the campaign against the Sassanids. With his death, the last hope for a renaissance of non-Christian faiths within the Roman Empire ended. Roman emperor Julian, reigning from 361 to 363, is notable for being the last pagan ruler of the Roman Empire. Christian writers referred to him as “Julian the Apostate.” Toleration for Christianity turned to suppression and persecution. Pagans were openly preferred for official appointments, and Christians were expelled from the army. Motivated by a desire for military glory Julian assembled the largest Roman army (65,000 strong and backed by a fleet) ever to head a campaign against Persia. The incompent Romans were routed. During a disastrous retreat from the walls of Ctesiphon, (below modern Baghdad), Julian was wounded by a spear thrown “no one knew whence” which pierced his liver. He died the next night at age 31, having been emperor for 20 months.

He spent the winter of 361/62 in Syria, where this aureus was struck. The coin anticipates future victories, the obverse bearing Julian's portrait, and the reverse depicting the emperor wearing a helmet, a tunic and carrying a trophy, whilst dragging a prisoner behind him by his hair.

The Hanksville-Burpee Quarry

Hanksville-Burpee Quarry is a paleontological excavation site near Hanksville, Utah. Scientists have found remains dating between 145 mya to 150 mya. The remains deposited in this location provide a unique opportunity for scientists to study the late Jurassic period.

The Hanksville dig site used to be an ancient river, and when dinosaurs died their carcasses washed down the river and deposited along its banks. Now some 147 my later scientists and volunteers from the Burpee Museum are unearthing them.

The fossils date to the late Jurassic period and are mostly made up of Sauropods, the long neck dinosaurs. A very rare armored dinosaur called Mymoorapelta was discovered, one of only 8 specimens ever found.