The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 40, October 3, 2004, Article 20

RARE SIKH COINS:  COLLECTOR VS MUSEUM

  Raising the age-old question of whether rare coins (or any
  artifacts) are better off in museums or private hands, this recent
  article from India describes a collection of Sikh coins:

  "The first Sikh coin came into existence with the founding of a
  Sikh kingdom by Banda Bahadur, a few years after the last
  Sikh Guru Gobind Singh's passed away.

  Historians say that though all the rulers brought in their new
  coins as soon as they assumed power, the common factor in
  each of them is that all the kings released coins in honour of
  Sikh gurus."

  "Researcher and numismatist Surinder Singh, who based his
  work on empirical evidence, while citing several nuances in
  the design of the coins to reigns of the kings during the period,
  said that while most of the coins were shifted off by the British
  to Bombay and Calcutta, some however remain in the
  possession of collectors."

  "When the British occupied the Punjab, the Sikh coin was of
  pure silver and the British coin was 95 per cent silver. Where
  the British rupee was sold of 16 annas in the market, the Sikh
  coin was sold of 17 annas. The Britishers shifted almost 10 to
  20 crores of Sikh coins to Bombay and Calcutta and converted
  them into British rupees", said Surinder Singh.

  Some of these coins are in the hands of a collector. Numismatist
  Narinder Katwar of Mohali who has some 200 rare coins,
  related to Sikh history, has refused to hand them over to the
  museum. He says it is his life's passion, which he will always
  guard zealously."

  "... I personally feel that besides giving my collection to any
  museum, I can preserve them better. And as its my personal
  collection I want to keep it with me only".

  The Central Sikh Museum in the precincts of the Golden
  Temple in Amritsar, is home to a large number of the ancient
  Sikh coins, providing a rare glimpse of the rich Sikh culture to
  the people."

  To read the full story, see:  Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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