Coins are a medium through which we can get closer to your roots and real identity. When it comes to ancient coins, Greece and India comes into the picture. It is also believed that the first ever coins in the world, were actually produced in the Indian subcontinent. But collecting ancient coins becomes a bit difficult for new and young collectors. Unless you have inherited some of them from your ancestors there are very few ways in which you can accidentally find an ancient coin. The only way out is buying them from coin dealers and other coin collectors. You can also keep visiting coin exhibitions and seminars that keep taking place around your area. If you are lucky enough, you might find an ancient coin that you desire at these events. All you have to do is keep your eyes open. The other option for young and new collectors that they can start with collecting modern coins of India and later get into ancient coins. The thing with Modern Indian Coins is that they are much more accessible. Apart from that, unlike ancient coins which are sometimes very rare, Modern Coins of India are easier to find. Once you have started building your collection, you will slowly increase your confidence levels as well. Modern Indian coins can be put into two major categories. First there was the Anna series and then there was Decimal coinage. Modern coins like 2 anna were rhombus in shape with rounded edges. They were made of copper-nickel and featured a bull on the reverse. The one fourth rupee was round in shape and featured a pair of wheat stems on the reverse. The best thing you could do is ask your grandparents if they have any of these coins with them. Moreover, these coins are not very old when compared to ancient coins. These coins issued in the 1950s are commonly found. The once pice coin was made of bronze and featured a running horse on the reverse. Most of the bronze coins were minted in early 1950s. 1 anna has zig zag edges and featured a bull on the reverse. This peculiar shape is called scalloped. All these coins were minted from Bombay, Calcutta and Hyderabad mints. Modern coins that fall under the Decimal coinage category come in various denominations from 1 naya paisa to 50 paisa. Decimal coinage came into existence from 1st April 1957. After that, 1 rupee had 100 paise instead of 64 paise. The naya paisa was smaller in size than the older paisa. Three annas were equal to 19 paise and 2 annas were equal to 13 paise. 1 anna was equal to 6 paise. When you get into the depth of modern coins of India, you will surely have a better idea about these important conversions. Those who had to pay 3 annas thought that they were cheated as they had to pay 19 paise instead of 18 paise. There was a lot of problem for converting moeny which had a denomination less than 25 paise. Another thing to look for in Modern Coins of India are errors. Error coins have a lot of value in the numismatic markets. There have been instances when error coins have been sold for a lot of money worldwide. Though it is very difficult to find errors in modern coins of India, you never know, you could get lucky some day. The idea is keep moving ahead and never stop. There is a lull period in every collector's life when you are not able to add any coin to your collection, especially when you love collecting ancient coins. That is where modern coins come in handy. A new coin to your collection will at least bring a smile on your face, even though it is not exactly what you are craving for. There would be times when people and other fellow collectors will put you down some way or the other. You need to work on a mechanism to stay unaffected by their talks. Let your collection speak for itself. There is no point in feeling bad for certain comments that are thrown at you. I myself have been a collector for more than 9 years now and personally use this technique. Keep looking. If you are truly passionate about coin collecting, you will definitely find something interesting even if they are rare modern coins in India. Sometimes your attitude towards your hobby becomes more important than what others have to say about your collection. As long as you feel satisfied, nothing should stop you really!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorPassionate collector of coins, banknotes & stamps who loves researching about ancient, medieval & modern Indian history! Archives
June 2019
Categories
All
|