2017-09-14 Thu

Money is a prized possession for some people and proving this statement is an advocate in Mysuru. Mahaveer Hegde is passionate about coins and his collection of over 4,000 rare coins, including 1,300 pieces from 218 countries, shows his love for coins. Till date, he has spent about 15 lacs on coins, which are priceless to him and not intended for sale.

Commemorative coins, silver coins and coins from islands found in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Timor Sea and Turks and Caicos Islands adorn Mahaveer’s exclusive collection. His collection also includes vintage coins of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras arranged year wise. Each coin preserves in itself the history of a land and they also offer a glimpse into their socio, economic, cultural and religious habits. In next two years, this native of Mangaluru plans to collect coins from all the remaining countries across the globe.

At first, it was just a plain and simple hobby which ignited into a fiery passion. He along with his friends started approaching foreign tourists, visiting Mangaluru and asking them to give coins of their countries. He had almost all the regular coins, including 3,000 Indian coins. He now has his eyes set on rare coins at exhibitions.

Collecting and arranging Indian coins was the most challenging task for him, courtesy a number of varieties and denominations like One paisa, Quarter Anna, Ondanna, One Anna, Half Anna of 1834 and so on.

It was easy for him to collect coins of kingdoms as coin collectors sell them after the royal families do not show any interest in pursuing the legacy.

The coin collector also says these coins are delicate and even a small scratch leads to a fall in their value. He adds he takes care of these coins by washing them with lemon and tamarind before getting it polished. Coins are preserved in special folders and coin books. Apart from coins, he has a few currency notes of other countries and century-old postal covers and stamps of India. He is also planning to pen a book on numismatics in the near future.

Mahaveer Hegde sacrificed a lot in his life to keep his passion for coins alive. His parents didn’t encourage him to pursue his passion as they thought it was a waste of money. However, he wasn’t discouraged because his friends had faith in his abilities and knew his passion would definitely bring results.

His rare collection includes:

Coins of British era and princely states

Coins belonging to Napoleon-3 period

Coloured coins of Canada

Austrian silver coin

1862 coin of king of Italy

11th century coin of Mauryan dynasty

Coins from Chola and Mughal-era

Hyderabad Nizam coins

Coins of Tibet king

Mints of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras from pre-independence era