Exploring the coinage

How do you collect such coins?
“Generally, there are a few places… like the goldsmith’s – as people sell such coins here for their gold or silver content. Also, as there were no mints in the olden days, goldsmiths were licensed to mint coins. One can find these coins in flea markets and with agents (who roam rural areas in their search). But a coin collector has to be knowledgeable. Unless one knows the value of these coins, it is easy to miss a good one. And, of course, one needs money to purchase these coins”.

How can you distinguish an old coin from a fake one?
“This comes with experience alone. With the counterfeit business flourishing, these coins are now more important for their antique rather than metal value. But if one looks at the coin through a magnifying glass, one can differentiate, to some extent, the counterfeit ones. Besides this, there is no other way to tell”.

How big is the market for old coins?
“It’s hard to tell. The price of a coin is determined by its scarcity and physical condition. The older the coin, the greater the value. Physical condition also matters. Many a time, these coins are chemically washed to detect if they contain gold or other precious metal. That damages the coin. But I cannot say how much these old coins would be worth, except that to me, my collection of 30,000 coins is priceless”.

What do you aim to do with your collection?
“Our society aims to have a museum of old coins in Pune. If we get space, we would even donate our coins to the museum. These coins are our past, and should not be allowed to get out of the country. Nowhere in the world can one see such variety of coins as in our country.

“Though, in India, we have had clad coins since 2,000 years, the West started making them only in this century. Clad coins have a noble metal, like a silver foil, on the outside and a base metal, like copper, on the inside.

“The other interesting feature about our coins is that we have had a decimal system in use dating back to the Satavahana era. When I studied the coins in this era, I found that five different kings of this era followed the decimal system. There was a correlation between the weight of the coins and the decimal system used. They have had coins of 0.1, 0.5, 1.5 value and so on.

“These coins are a way of preserving our history and the government should remit an appropriate fee to acquire coins from those who wish to sell it. It is because of improper remittance that such coins find their way out of the country”.