“Did you notice that small bronze coin with a hole in the middle? It was minted during the Second World War between 1942 and 1944 because England was trying to save its metal for its armoury,” told C. Madhavan, a member of Madurai Philatelists and Numismatists Association, at an exhibition at the Government Museum on the Gandhi Museum premises here on Sunday.
He regaled visitors with nuggets of history on scruffy bronze and shiny silver coins. The visitors were taken back in time as they closely observed stamps and coins with images of famous freedom fighters.
The most intriguing part of the collection were the coins of the Chola kingdom. One of the collectors, A. Chellavel, who had meticulously arranged coins of various eras, has even found gold coins dating back to 1010 CE when emperor Raja Raja Chola-I built the famous Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur. His prized collection include a₹1000 coin released by Reserve Bank of India to commemorate the millennium celebration of the temple.
“It is marvellous to see how coins have traversed the journey of time. The Chola coin is one such example. This freedom-fighter collection is specially curated for the Gandhi Museum in tune with the Independence. Day celebration. One can see rare coins of various denominations such as ₹150 for Tagore, ₹100 for Anna Durai and ₹100 for the 75th anniversary of Dandi March,” said association president M. Swamiappan.
There were coins dating back to Mughal period, pre-Independence era, circulated coins and commemorative coins. “Collecting stamps until a few years ago seemed to be quite a task but with the advent of Internet, one can choose the stamps and name the price. Buying and selling have been made easy,” said Durai Vijayapandian, another collector.
However, sustaining the interest of young minds is not easy, the collectors feel. Those with prized collections fear that their collection might become obsolete and the legacy lost in the course of time. The members said they would love to engage with school and college students to help them curate their collection.
“You don’t just collect coins, you collect history,” said C. Palaniappan, owner of a rare ‘error collection’ series with focus on errors in Indian currencies. The exhibition closes on Monday.
The association discusses history of coins, stamps and other collectables. on the third Sunday of every month at Victoria Edward Hall in West Veli Street. Contact: C. Madhavan - 98651 76568 or Durai Vijayapandian: 98421 20405 for more details.
