2017-07-15 Sat

A 54-year-old numismatist from Sringeri, named Shreemathi Arunkumar has been collecting coins for 35 years. She has collected coins belonging to 120 countries. She worked as a postal assistant earlier, but quit her job after marriage.

She has 300 Indian coins, some of which were struck by the English East India Company. She also has coins from Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Bhutan, England, Malaysia and Russia etc.

Her father, Shammaiah Kerodi, inspired Shreemathi to pursue coin collecting as a child. Her passion for collecting coins is still alive today. Some rare coins were given to her by her father while she bought many of them from exhibitions. She got many of these coins from her friends and relatives who have settled abroad or those who keep travelling to foreign countries frequently.

Her husband and her daughter support her now in her passion. Apart from coin collecting, she also does embroidery and art work on steel plates and fabric. She makes bags, hand-purses and other craft pieces for selling.