[V.Narayan]

Some more from my toss them into the shoe box collection.

India - 1897 - Quarter Anna. As most on this thread would know 16 annas made a rupee and IIRC 6 paisa made a anna. I assume a quarter of a anna was a lot of purchasing power looking at the size and weight of this coin. It is similar to the new Rs 10/- coins with bi-metal looks. From what little I can gather on inflation a quarter anna then (1897) was like Rs 5/- today. But given the change in per capita income its meaningfulness to a poor man must have been a few times more than what a Rs 5/- coin would command today.




100 pesos coin from Mexico. Picked it up on a visit to that country. Requested the lady at the hotel's cash counter to give me the largest denomination coin she could in exchange for my USD.




Philippines, 25 sentimos, like our paisa. It is a telling sign of the times that even the Philippine peso is better valued against the USD than our INR. Or maybe it doesn't really matter.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Some more from my toss them into the shoe box collection.

India - 1897 - Quarter Anna.

Send me your address sir. Am coming over to pick that coin up

[deathwalkr]

Pics of the commemorative coins in my collection at home. Got my father to take pics and send

JFK, Monaco, Quit India Movement and Kamaraj

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Pics of the commemorative coins in my collection at home. Got my father to take pics and send

JFK, Monaco, Quit India Movement and Kamaraj

Quite a stunning collection of commemoratives. Your display prompted me to go order some more from the Hyderabad & Calcutta Mints. Might arrive in 3 months, or maybe 4, could be 5 too!

Some more from my side for the viewing pleasure of our readers...


India, 1963, 2-paisa coin. These I remember using. They were made in both steel & gold colours. A 2-paisa coin in the mid-1960s could buy you 5 local sweets made by the cantonment bakery. Branded sweets were either non-existent, only available in big cities & big shops or too expensive. 1-paisa fetched two sweets. They would be kept in a glass jar and the bakery owner would dig his hands in and fetch them out. 2-paisa could also get you 6 marbles to play with. :-). Note in Hindi it says this is one-fiftieth of a rupee. Till c.1957 before the switch to metric currencies a paisa was 1/96th of a rupee and not 1/100th. Hence to help people understand.



India, 1919, 8 anna coin. That is half a rupee. When we switched to metric coinage circa 1957 the Govt called the 1/2 rupee coin colloquially as 8 annas and the 1/4 rupee coin as 4 annas to help people co-relate old versus new. The coinage for 50 paisa and 25 paisa came a few years later. All this was done to help the population transition out of 1 rupee being 16 annas to 1 rupee being 100 paisa.



Zambia, 2-Kwacha note. Gifted by a close friend from that country. Interestingly 1 Kwacha = INR 4. :-(

[deathwalkr]

That's the first time I'm seeing an 8 anna coin

Which sets have you ordered? Could you post the link for the site?

Thanks

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

That's the first time I'm seeing an 8 anna coin

Which sets have you ordered? Could you post the link for the site?

https://www.spmcil.com/Interface/Home.aspx

Booked 4 - IAF, Guru Nanak, Dr Homi Bhabha, & Food & Agriculture Organization

The 8 anna coin - I think one of my kids bought it from Kolkata in 2011.

[deathwalkr]

Wow. Didn't realize they were so pricey

My grandfather must have really liked me to buy those coin sets way back Bless him.

[V.Narayan]

Would you know if various online portals such as coincollectors or coinbazaar etc are genuine or is there risk that duplicates made in Faridabad and Ulhasnagar are palmed off on these sites? Do you know any reliable shops/portals where an enthusiast can buy old coins.

[deathwalkr]

Sorry sir. Though i keep trawling through such sites, i have no way of vouching for them.

I guess best way would be to get in touch with the numismatics club in your area and taking their guidance.

indianhobbyclub seems to look good

[RM Motorsports]

The new 20 Rupees coin. Couple of times got mistaken as 10 Rupees coin.

[deathwalkr]

Wonder when we stopped caring for decent designs for our regular coins. The lack of symmetry just makes my OCD go wild

[Emvi]

A glimpse of my collection.







An ancient coin, about which I don't have much information.



Oldest Indian coin in my collection.



A coin from the historic year of 1947.



OT: I was a phillumenist when I was a kid. I still have the collection somewhere deep in my almirah. Anyone pursuing phillumeny here?

[V.Narayan]

Some more for your viewing pleasure....

Argentina, 1996, 25 centavos. Got it from a class mate from that country.




Honduras, 1999, 50 centavos. Their currency is Lempira. Centavos is like paisa. On a flight I was once seated next to this passenger from Honduras and just requested him for a coin from his country and viola!




Kenya, 1994, 5 Shillings.

Originally Posted by Emvi

A glimpse of my collection.

Could I trouble you to post some close-up photos of the 5 oldest/best/most unusual coins in this lovely collection. I had to look up the dictionary to know what Phillumeny is. I think @Samurai collects matchboxes.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Emvi

Oldest Indian coin in my collection.

The oldest coin I had was a 1869 quarter ana, with Queen Victoria on it. I gave it to elder brother since he was more into coin collection. He even bought the ₹100 coin commemorating 1982 Asiad, after a long fight with dad. He still has his collection intact.

Originally Posted by Emvi

OT: I was a phillumenist when I was a kid. I still have the collection somewhere deep in my almirah. Anyone pursuing phillumeny here?

I used to do it 40 years ago. But the hobby was looked down upon because the source of the matchbox was street trash. Not a single smoker in my family, even extended family. As the family shifted to Bangalore in 1982, I founded the roads lot dirtier and stopped picking discarded matchboxes for their labels.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

India, 1919, 8 anna coin. That is half a rupee. When we switched to metric coinage circa 1957 the Govt called the 1/2 rupee coin colloquially as 8 annas and the 1/4 rupee coin as 4 annas to help people co-relate old versus new. The coinage for 50 paisa and 25 paisa came a few years later. All this was done to help the population transition out of 1 rupee being 16 annas to 1 rupee being 100 paisa.

This reminds me. My mom has excellent memory of her younger days, with all the details. Why did they have coins with a hole? Because copper was expensive, government decided to reduce the cost by putting a hole in it. It made women very happy, because they could use it to apply perfect red kumkum bindi without smudging.

She also talks about Rupiya, anna, pie.

1 Rupiya = 16 anna
1 anna = 12 pie

So 1 rupiya has 192 pie. Pie is copper coin of small size. I have never seen it. Does anyone have a pie in their collection?

Edit: I found a pic from the Internet.

[Emvi]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Could I trouble you to post some close-up photos of the 5 oldest/best/most unusual coins in this lovely collection.

Sure, my pleasure!
I will post them shortly.

I had to look up the dictionary to know what Phillumeny is. I think @Samurai collects matchboxes.

To be very honest with you, I too was not aware of this term before posting

Originally Posted by Samurai

I used to do it 40 years ago. But the hobby was looked down upon because the source of the matchbox was street trash. Not a single smoker in my family, even extended family. As the family shifted to Bangalore in 1982, I founded the roads lot dirtier and stopped picking discarded matchboxes for their labels.

Exactly! Street trash was my biggest source as well
Even though I stopped pursuing this hobby long back(early 90s), I have somehow managed to keep the collection safe. It was completely out of my memory, this thread has helped me retrieve the memories. I will try to post the pictures when time permits.