Coin exhibition to celebrate 75 years of Independence

KOLKATA: All coins issued to commemorate Indian freedom fighters, including those of different denominations and metal compositions, will be showcased at the Mudra Utsav, the annual exhibition organized by the Numismatic Society of Calcutta (NSC).

“This year, the theme of the exhibition is the 75th anniversary of Independence and there will be four special cabinets for coins issued in the names of great Indian leaders, freedom fighters and martyrs.These will include Subhas Chandra Bose, Chittaranjan Das, Sri Aurobindo, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lal Bahadur Sashtri, Bhagat Singh, Tantia Tope, Lala Lajpat Rai, Rani Lakshmi Bai, Mangal Pandey, Biju Patnaik, Jaiprakash Narayan, Dadabhai Naoroji, Ram Singh Kuka and Rani Gandinliu,” said NSC joint secretary Vinod Jaiswal.
For instance, there will be seven coins on Gandhi: one 20 paise coin in aluminium bronze; one 50 paise denomination in pure nickel; one Re 1 coin in pure nickel, two coins of Rs 5 denomination in cupro-nickel and steel, and two coins of Rs 10 denomination in bi-metal and silver.
The 16 other cabinets will showcase coins on subjects that range from early coins of Bengal to early medieval Bengal coins, Mughal coins from Bengal mints, coins from Murshidabad and Cooch Behar, bi-metal coins on birds and animals, coins and notes on Indian flag and bank notes on Nobel laureates.
“The Indian coins on display will cover a very wide period — from the 6th century to the modern era. There will be coins issued by various dynasties in eastern India through time. Also, there will be a display of coins manufactured by mints in Bengal located in Murshidabad, Jahangirnagar, Dhaka and Akbarnagar,” said NSC secretary Ravi Shankar Sharma.
The three-day event starting Christmas eve will also raise awareness on frauds in social/electronic media who have been trying to mislead the public on the rarity/value of post-Independence currencies. “This kind of fake campaign is a threat. It is causing harm to the professional numismatists and citizens being trapped. We have asked stall holders to immediately alert the NSC counter if any such incident is noticed during Mudra Utsav 2021,” said Jaiswal.