MYSURU: Money matters, they say. But for this advocate in Mysuru, it is only the coins that matter. Meet 36-year-old Mahaveer Hegde, who is passionate about coins. His collection of over 4,000 rare coins, including 1,300 pieces from 218 different countries, shows his zeal. Till date, he has spent about `15 lakh on coins, which are priceless to him and not intended for sale.Commemorative coins, silver coins and coins from islands found in Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Timor Sea and Turks and Caicos Islands adorn Mahaveer’s exclusive collection.
He also has 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 economic, social, cultural and religious habits. In next two years, this native of Mangaluru plans to collect coins from all the remaining countries across the globe. Mahaveer’s tryst with coins began at the age of 11.
“I and my childhood friends, Zahid, Chirag, Nandakishore and Vinayak, would exchange coins of different nations for fun. We then started approaching foreign tourists visiting Mangaluru, asking them to give us coins of their countries. Soon, the hobby turned into passion and within a few years, I collected 40 coins from different parts of the world,” says Mahaveer.
“I have almost all the regular coins in my collection, including 3,000 Indian coins. Now, my eyes wander only for rare coins at the exhibitions. I hope I get some of them in exchange of the coins that I have,” adds the avid coin collector.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.
RARE COLLECTION
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