Ice Age wolf found perfectly preserved in Russian permafrost

Scientists said it was an adult, about 25 per cent bigger than today's wolves.

Russian scientists have found the head of an Ice Age wolf perfectly preserved in the Siberian permafrost. The wolf, which died 40,000 years ago, was discovered in the Russian Arctic region of Yakutia. It is so well preserved that its fur, teeth, brain and facial tissue are largely intact. The animal belonged to an ancient subspecies of wolf that lived at the same time as the mammoths and became extinct alongside them.

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 very special relationship with humans. We may find ancient views 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.

Choice Tiberius aureus among Heritage offerings

Tiberius (AD 14-37). AV aureus. NGC Choice AU★ 5/5 - 4/5. Lugdunum.

Heritage again offers spectacular ancients. The Tiberius opens at $ 8k.

Severus Alexander (AD 222-235). AV aureus. NGC Choice MS★ 5/5 - 5/5.

The auction is crowned by a Mint State example of the famed Lydian ‘Light Series’ Stater, introduced under the rule of Croesus.

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Russian farmer unearths unusual 2,000-year-old skeleton

The rich grave yielded gold and silver jewellery, weaponry, valuables and artistic household items. They were found next to a chieftain’s skeleton in a grave close to the Caspian Sea in southern Russia. Among the bodies is a “laughing” young man with an artificially deformed egg-shaped skull and excellent teeth.

A gold and turquoise horse head

The burial is believed to belong to a leader of a Sarmatian nomadic tribe that dominated this part of Russia until the 5th century AD.

Roman military victories on Rarities

Coins served as the messenger and message in ancient times. The Armenia Capta gold aureus of Lucius Verus, issued in A.D. 163 in Rome made 14,000 Swiss francs ($13,963 U.S.) against an estimate of 7,500 francs. In 163, the Roman general Marcus Statius Priscus invaded Armenia and captured the capital Artaxata. The second coin was issued in Rome, sometime in early 218. It features a bust of Macrinus on the obverse, and the reverse shows Victory seated. The reverse proclaims a victory over the Parthians, which is ironic, since Macrinus agreed to a humiliating peace treaty. 20,000 Swiss francs ($19,946 U.S.) against an estimate of 5,000 francs.