For many years I have admired the gold coins of the Kushan kings and finally decided it was time to move from admiring to owning. This...

British Trade Deficit and Opium Smuggling In the 18th century, British demand for Chinese tea, silk, and porcelain soared, but China...

Tipu's Tiger, an 18th-century automata with its keyboard visible. Victoria and Albert Museum, London . Public Domain image via Wikimedia...

Pigeon on a Peach Branch by Emperor Huizong Chinese coins are not an area where I have many coins to offer. Today's coin is from an...

In the late 15th century, the Timurid Empire was fragmenting, and Qunduz (modern Kunduz in northern Afghanistan) became the seat of an...

This coin struck me as curious - copying 4th century Roman style portraits in the 12th century.  Al-Malik al-Ṣāliḥ, was the Zengid emir...

Saturnalia in Red: an AI generated abstract image evoking the spirit of Saturnalia. Saturnalia is December 17th. I was excited to open...

Gur-e-Amir - a mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Timur (also known as Tamerlane) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan ( Copyright: under license from...

By the mid-14th century, the Chaghatai Khanate, originally established by Chaghatai, the second son of Genghis Khan, had begun to fracture.

The arabic word مملوك or mamlūk means "owned" or "possessed". In the context of 13th century Islamic society, Mamlūks were usually ...

2024 has had ups and downs - it seems that every year I start with same thought. This has been an unusual year with and earth quake,...

This is the Kwarazmian Empire in 1215.....it was one of the most powerful and affluent states of its time. The Khwarezmian Empire, at the...

The Seljuks of Rum, who ruled over much of Anatolia from the late 11th century, faced increasing pressure from the Mongol invasions...

The Coronation of Ardashir-e Babakan, a Sasanian rock relief, carved circa CE 235, located in the east corner of Naqsh-e Rostam, in the...

Today's notes start from my latest coin, issued by the Islamic rulers of Bukhara, dating to the 8th century CE.

A Śivalinga as drawn by ChatGPT 4o Today's coins (20 of them) come with minimal descriptions of their era. This is a collection of...

Kublai Khan (1215-1294), who was also called Emperor Shizu of the Yuan, was the son of Tolui, the youngest son of Genghis Khan. This...

I have to admit that I am drawn to coins that are not popular and periods in history that are not well known. One current interest is...

Detail from a 19th Century water color on paper depicting the court of Muhammad bin Tughluq. Accession Number XXIII-239 Salar Jung...

The Vikrama Samvat is a Hindu luni-solar calendar, which means it is based on both the phases of the moon and the solar year. It has...