Numismatics is an interesting field of study. Coins are one of our most constant sources of information about ancient times. From ancient punch marked coins of the mahajanapadhas in the 7th and 6th century BCE, all the way to the machine cast nikel-aluminium rupees of the current era, India has had a variety of coins to showcase, in various materials, shapes and sizes.
A lot of these coins were on display at the Chennai Coin Society coin Fair, held on July 20, 21,22. These three days had loads of sellers of coins from all over India display their coins all over a single building. I went on Saturday, after attending an event at the Madras Literary Society.
The entrance to the coin fair had a stall by CCS themselves, with some of their coins on display, and a small sale section. Then the glass doors opened onto a hubbub of activity, with stalls on both sides, and more on the second floor. I took a quick look at all the stalls before moving around and looking at each stall individually.
The first stall I decided to purchase from was displaying envelop covers, and i purchased three in Tamil. They had had enclosed cheques in them. Now of course it was just the cover I was buying.
Before i could move on however, i came across a known face. Venakataraman Prabhakar. An antique collector, he focuses on bicycles. In his collection is a cycle from World War II.
As I greeted him, he was looking at a photo of a boy on a bicycle. "Who's that?" I asked. "Doesn't matter", he said, "whats important is the bicycle" and laughed.
Most antique dealers at the fair seemed to know him, and had some items reserved for his views. One item that was on display that they were looking at as well was a spoon.
"Made in England", said the seller"Look at the craftsmanship". It was a wooden spoon, except for the head, which had an image of a stag inlaid on a blue background. Below that was a Persian sounding epithet, and on the reverse, strange symbols after which was written England. We spent some time puzzling over what that could mean.
Then i went around the fair, looking at various coins, and buying one or two.
At a particular dealers stall, I struck up a sudden confidence and quoted my own price for the coins. "You couldn't ask for anything lower?" He asked, and laughed. I laughed with him and only managed a small discount.
A particular dealer was on the phone the whole time that I was there. When I picked up an Arcot paisa, which he'd priced at Rs 350, to look at it he became very nervous, and asked me what exactly it was I wanted. Nothing, I said, I'm just looking around. When i then asked him the price of a coin almost identical to this one he told me 1400! I walked away.
After this i went to the first floor. This was placed differently. The ground floor had the stalls against both walls. Here, apart from the stalls, there was a display of notes, and envelopes down the centre of the hall. At the far end was another display.
I picked up a few more coins here from various people.
When I had stopped at a certain stall, a family came over. The daughter, not more than 10, showed the man at the desk one of his coins under a microscope."Look how big it is!" She said, enjoying the magnified view.
"That is a coin of Dida Rani of Kashmir". he told her. However, the girl was not at all interested in her history lesson and only wanted to see "how big" the coin was under the magnifying glass.
Seeing as I was so interested in the coins, the dealer offered me some coins of kumaragupta. I looked through them, taking the one he and his associate suggested. I also picked up a coin of the Gujjara Pratiharas.
After completing a circuit of the hall, I returned to their table, said goodbye, as it was almost 3:30, and I still hadn't eaten my my lunch. I walked down to the Vadapalani metro station and took a metro back.
A lot of these coins were on display at the Chennai Coin Society coin Fair, held on July 20, 21,22. These three days had loads of sellers of coins from all over India display their coins all over a single building. I went on Saturday, after attending an event at the Madras Literary Society.
The entrance to the coin fair had a stall by CCS themselves, with some of their coins on display, and a small sale section. Then the glass doors opened onto a hubbub of activity, with stalls on both sides, and more on the second floor. I took a quick look at all the stalls before moving around and looking at each stall individually.
The entrance
Ground floor
The first stall I decided to purchase from was displaying envelop covers, and i purchased three in Tamil. They had had enclosed cheques in them. Now of course it was just the cover I was buying.
Before i could move on however, i came across a known face. Venakataraman Prabhakar. An antique collector, he focuses on bicycles. In his collection is a cycle from World War II.
As I greeted him, he was looking at a photo of a boy on a bicycle. "Who's that?" I asked. "Doesn't matter", he said, "whats important is the bicycle" and laughed.
Most antique dealers at the fair seemed to know him, and had some items reserved for his views. One item that was on display that they were looking at as well was a spoon.
"Made in England", said the seller"Look at the craftsmanship". It was a wooden spoon, except for the head, which had an image of a stag inlaid on a blue background. Below that was a Persian sounding epithet, and on the reverse, strange symbols after which was written England. We spent some time puzzling over what that could mean.
Then i went around the fair, looking at various coins, and buying one or two.
At a particular dealers stall, I struck up a sudden confidence and quoted my own price for the coins. "You couldn't ask for anything lower?" He asked, and laughed. I laughed with him and only managed a small discount.
A particular dealer was on the phone the whole time that I was there. When I picked up an Arcot paisa, which he'd priced at Rs 350, to look at it he became very nervous, and asked me what exactly it was I wanted. Nothing, I said, I'm just looking around. When i then asked him the price of a coin almost identical to this one he told me 1400! I walked away.
First floor
After this i went to the first floor. This was placed differently. The ground floor had the stalls against both walls. Here, apart from the stalls, there was a display of notes, and envelopes down the centre of the hall. At the far end was another display.
I picked up a few more coins here from various people.
When I had stopped at a certain stall, a family came over. The daughter, not more than 10, showed the man at the desk one of his coins under a microscope."Look how big it is!" She said, enjoying the magnified view.
"That is a coin of Dida Rani of Kashmir". he told her. However, the girl was not at all interested in her history lesson and only wanted to see "how big" the coin was under the magnifying glass.
Seeing as I was so interested in the coins, the dealer offered me some coins of kumaragupta. I looked through them, taking the one he and his associate suggested. I also picked up a coin of the Gujjara Pratiharas.
After completing a circuit of the hall, I returned to their table, said goodbye, as it was almost 3:30, and I still hadn't eaten my my lunch. I walked down to the Vadapalani metro station and took a metro back.
Some flyers they had put out on the main road to attract people
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