Indian Tipu Sultan Coin, .50 Paise, Elephant Motif

Tiny elephant, barely there, drifting on a dark, round field.

This Tipu Sultan copper coin, half paise, with an elephant motif is from Karnataka, India. Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore from 1782 to 1799, is remembered for resisting the British East India Company in the Anglo-Mysore wars and for his military and administrative innovations. Round, dark coin with a small, left-facing elephant just visible in shallow relief, with a rounded back and a lifted trunk. A few green flecks mark the surface, and the edge is smooth and rounded. It is 0.63 inches in diameter.

Faint, modest and still recognizably elephant.