When My Cousin Introduced Me to old Indian Coins

Stress is just a five letter word but has a lot of effect on our lives. There are unexpected situations in life that make us tensed for some or the other reason. There are different kinds of activities that you can indulge in to relieve stress. People like to be engaged in hobbies like painting, music sports etc. There are many communities who love collecting old Indian coins as well and I belong to one of them. Many friends and relatives ask me what is in this hobby that excites me so much. There is no definite answer to this question. All I know is that by collecting old Indian Coins, I forget all my troubling worries. 

There have been cases when I feel very low and my instant saviour has been my collection of old Indian coins. All I need to do is open my coin album and keep looking at whatever little I have collected until now. There is something about old coin of India that brings a smile on my face. I started collecting coins at a very young age. My cousin brother was a passionate collector and he introduced me once to his collection of marvellous Indian old coins. I still can’t forget that day when I kept pestering my cousin brother by asking him one question after the other about each and every coin that he had in his collection. Even though I thought I was troubling him, he kept answering all my doubts without any complaints. We sat together discussing about ancient coins of India for several hours. We started talking in the evening and only realised that it was midnight after my mother came up to me and asked us to go to bed. From the next day onwards I started building my own collection.

The first coin that I added to my collection was a bronze coin that was issued by Akbar – a coin which I borrowed from my cousin brother. There has been no looking back since then and today I have almost 300 old Indian coins issued by various emperors!

Introduce Your Kids to the hobby of Collecting Stamps of India

Kids today are growing up faster than they should actually. That’s because they are all exposed to a lot of technology and information at a very young age. When they should be out there in the playgrounds, they are busy playing video games or surfing the internet. There is so much out there on the internet, playing old games like hide and seek have become things of the past. Modes of entertainment have also changed a lot over the years. So has changed the ways of learning and education. When I was young, I loved collecting stamps of India. I liked everything from exchanging Indian stamps with my friends to separating stamps from envelopes and keeping them safely in albums. The hobby kept me excited always. 

I believe that due to my passion for stamps in India, I have gained a lot of knowledge subconsciously. After looking at all those new Indian stamps I had in my collection, I started reading about everything that was depicted on them. Slowly and steadily I started upgrading myself with so many different aspects of our country, right from monuments, history to science, art, geography, wildlife etc. I think that there can’t be a better way of learning about these aspects. School has always been boring for some odd reason. Theoretical knowledge will not stay with you for a long time. It is only good for scoring marks in examinations. Collecting Rare Indian stamps was a fascinating new way to learn new concepts. Besides that, since these stamps of India are a part of your collection, you will most probably than not, remember everything about them. I don’t want to boast about myself, but it is true that my general knowledge was far better than all my other friends who were not into this amazing hobby. I strongly believe that every kid today should be introduced to the world of Indian stamps.

How World Coins and World History go Hand in Hand

Every country is unique in its own way. Various factors define a nation, from geography, climate, and wildlife to history, culture and traditions. Numismatics is another area which reflects a country’s past. Not all might know what numismatics is exactly. Well, it is the study of coinage and in that process of learning; people also pursue the hobby of collecting coins. Those who are into collecting World Coins will have more knowledge about world history. That’s because different rare world coins have been issued by different rulers and dynasties. When you take a closer look at the various inscriptions on these world coins, you are also going to upgrade your knowledge about history.

Greeks and Indians have issued some of the most valuable coins from around the world. From ancient times, coinage has been an integral part of history. Various aspects like economy, standard of living etc. can be studied through the study of world coins. Apart from that, since many of these rare world coins have inscribed the date of issue on them, various events from the past can also be analysed. Some emperors also counter-struck coins with their own names when they defeated the existing emperor and overtook the administration of that particular territory. 

There is a notion that not many pursue this hobby. But the fact is that there are many passionate collectors all over the world who are crazy about world coins. Some are interested in ancient world coins while others like collecting modern ones. Over the years, the process of minting coins has evolved tremendously. Some of the world coins of today are curved in shape while some are coloured as well. Impressions have today become extremely sharp and these coins are called as high relief world coins. Computer-aided technology has also been widely adopted by Mints all over the world.

Why Most Collectors Like Ancient Greek Coins

Some coins are even more special than the rest. Different collectors have their own dream coin and a beautiful Greekcoin is what most of them would love having in their beloved collection. Ancient Greek coins have a lot of respect in the market. It is like what Roger Federer is for tennis. So what makes them so special? One of the primary reasons is the fact that ancient Greek coins are some of the oldest coins ever minted in history. Each one of them has a unique story. The elements depicted on them are a reflection of what life was like in those days. Historians and archaeologies have worked hand in hand to decipher the mysteries of Greek history. Coins of Greece are pieces of sound evidence that clearly tell us the events of the past with accuracy. That’s because they depict the names of the rulers who minted them. Dating is a scientific process through which the time period of a coin can be identified. Relying on any other method to document events of the past can sometimes be confusing and time consuming.  The study of several hoards of ancient Greek coins have made things clearer and solved various doubts that historians had easily.   

Apart from that, a greek coin is beautiful because of the amazing inscriptions and imagery that they depict. Some ancient greek coins were issued to commemorate Olympic games. These coins feature different athletes performing different kinds of sports. A greek coin featuring a discus thrower is highly sought after by collectors around the world. Some of them are extremely rare either because they were commemoratives or because they were issued by an emperor who had a very short regime. On the other hand there are misconceptions that every greek coin will fetch you a good amount, which is not really the case!  

Why you should make your kids collect Indian Stamps

Parenting is something that not many give importance to. The future of your kids depends completely on how you raise them. Children learn from their elders and follow their guidance. It is always advised to guide children at the right time so that when they grow older they become responsible citizens. These days, there are various hobbies and skills that you can teach your kids. From drawing, to skating, the list is endless. Finding an interesting way to learn new things is also very crucial. That’s where a hobby like stamp collecting comes into the picture. I myself love collecting Indian Stamps and I plan to teach my kids too about the hobby. The reason for that is very simple, because the conventional educational system in India is extremely boring.

I remember when I was kid, I hated the textbooks completely. Most of the teachers would only read one chapter after the other and explain concepts. We used to comeback home and spend hours doing our homework but nothing used to go into our heads. Even during exam times, all we did was memorize everything without understanding the core concept.

Things changed drastically the moment I started collecting Stamps of India. I started looking carefully at the images that were depicted on all those Rare Indian Stamps. Then I slowly started reading about whatever was shown on a new stamp I got. Many a times, I also related what I was learning by collecting Old Indian Stamps with what I was learning at school. What really matters is the right kind of attitude more than anything else.

Now when I am a parent, I would want my kids to pursue the hobby of collecting Indian Stamps so that they are not just stuck in textbooks. Apart from that, the hobby allows you to make a few more good friends in life!