Spink’s September 27 sale includes both the Tisbury collection of Commonwealth silver coinage and a collection of the coinage of Tipu Sultan (1750-99) collected by Edward Moor, an officer in the army of the East India Company. Moor took part in campaigns against the Tiger of Mysore – the shattering of his left elbow resulted in his early retirement from the army – but later became an expert on Indian culture.
In his book Hindu Pantheon, published in 1810, he described how he came by some of the coins in his collection: “Among the valuable property of the late Tippoo Sultan that fell into the hands of the captors was a cabinet of coins and medals, Mahomedan and Hindu; many of them very old and curious. They were sold at the public prize sales; and a part was purchased by my old and highly esteemed friend Major Price who kindly enriched my little collection by such duplicates as his lot contained.”