1st or 2nd century BC, Gold Signet Ring, 5.30g, with an oval surface with an engraving of an animal, most likely a Goat or a Deer with three symbols around, a Nandipada to right, a crescent above and a treskelis behind. Extremely fine, extremely rare. The Ring is offered with a letter describing and discussing it, dated 6 October 1975. The handwritten letter bears the signature of the late Shri Vishnu Shridhar Wakankar (1919-1988) a great Indological scholar and archaeologist, often regarded as the ‘father of Indian rock art research’, being the famed discoverer of the Bhimbetka rock shelters. It is signed in his capacity as the Principal of the Bharati Kala Bhuvan Art College, Ujjain, MP. Mr Wakankar was also closely connected with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and made important contributions to cultural studies. In his view (as the letter suggests) the ring is dated to the 1st or 2nd century BC. However, the close resemblance the Nandipada and Treskelis bear to the same symbols found on archaic punch-marked coins of the Godavari Valley, would suggest that it is perhaps even older. As such, it is probably the earliest gold signet Ring ever discovered and therefore a highly significant artefact. The depiction of a goat or a deer might connect it to a Yajna ritual.