Mysuru: A unique exhibition of old coins, currencies of various countries of the world, stamps, handwriting samples of important personalities, diaries, paintings and other artefacts is nothing short of a great history lesson.
For anyone interested in history, the natural starting point of the learning curve would be books. But for some people, that process alone doesn’t suffice. They need some more practical in the form of collecting or researching old coins, currencies and other important artefacts that were in public domain.
An exhibition of rare coins right from the period of Mughals to the present day, currencies of highest face value, old stamps, handwritings of greatest personalities displayed by Bengaluru-based numismatist K. Vishwanath as part of ‘Interaction with Achievers’ held at Mysore Arts Gallery on Ramanuja Road recently provided a perfect opportunity for history students and enthusiasts to learn about the past.
Vishwanath has collected all sorts of objects from stamps to coins, jewellery, diaries, Indian coins and currencies of highest face values, triangle, rectangular-shaped coins, and chronologically exhibited notes from 1978, currencies before demonetisation. Coins dating back to hundreds of years were the major attraction.
Apart from this, coins and currencies of many foreign countries were also kept on display. German Euro of various face values 5, 10 to 20,000, Turkey’s Lira worth 5 lakh, Argentina’s Peso worth 10 lakh, Yugoslavia’s Dinar worth 50 lakh, and currencies worth Dinar 1 and Dinar 5 crore, handwritings of more than 1,250 famous personalities, national postal stamps used in both ancient and modern world, ship and boat stamps, sports stamps, stamps carrying images of Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, Winston Churchill and Mother Teresa were on display.
Coins that were circulated during Chikkadevaraya Wadiyar of Mysore Royal Family, British era coins, coins of many princely States, coins of pre Independence era, coins with a hole, coins of various of countries of 1-5, 10-50 and 100 denominations, missile stamps, postal stamps of Second World War period were the other attractions.
Historian Prof P.V. Nanjaraj Urs felicitated Vishwanath recognising his outstanding contributions. Senior Nurse A. Govindachar, Advocate B.M. Marappa, Kannada activist K.S. Narasimhamurthy, Kamsaale Kumaraswamy, Kalihundi Shivakumar, Theatre Personality Rajashekhar Kadamba and others were present.
“Different people have different hobbies like photography, music, dance, reading books but they enjoy their hobbies without telling others. Likewise, I too have this hobby right from my childhood days. So far, I have purchased coins, currencies, stamps, diaries from many places but I never sold them,” Vishwanath said.
“Stamps of Wadiyars period of Mysore, Kannada-number-bearing coins, and Mughal Emperor Akbar’s period coins that have the names of all 12 months name are some of my memorable,” he added. Vishwanath also said that every collector has either a specialised area or a niche area of interest. Someone might only be interested in Mughal currency. “Someone else may look at the Gupta period. I have always focused on Wadiyars of Mysore, Mughals and British India currencies. I have everything from metallic coins to paper money,” he said.
“I now know more about Indian history through my collection than I gather from books. Currency has always been a sound identifier of region, reign and prosperity, among other things. And at times it is not just evidence, it is history itself. Digging up and finding rare coins, hunting them down, negotiating the price and finally getting them in our hands all these are challenges and are not easy. However, this hunt is a thrill for every collector and there is a whole process of learning involved,” he said.
This post was published on March 19, 2019 6:34 pm