Oh I see, ONGC coin!!

We were driving down the busy Medawakkam Main Road. The road was as busy as ever.

My wife saw the Leo Coffee shop on the other side of the road and wanted to buy 0.5 Kg of coffee powder.

I slowed down the car carefully and after parking asked her to go and get the powder. She came back after a few minutes saying that she was afraid to cross the road.

So I got down from my car and managed to cross the road. The saleswoman said Rs.213 for the 1/2 Kg.

I gave her three hundred rupee notes. She wanted change. I gave her two ten rupee notes and took back a hundred note.

Still she lamented: No change. I said don't worry about the change.
She started rummaging her desk. I again told her not to worry and give whatever change comes into her hands.

She gave an ONGC five rupee coin and said "Please collect Rs.2 from me when you pass this side....Don't forget".

Then I laughed. She wondered and asked me what the matter was.
I then told her that she had given me a commemorative coin which was worth at-least Rs.7!!

Oh, I didn't notice that. Else I would have kept it aside. I have a few coins and some ten rupee coins at home. What are they worth?

I replied: They are not worth much. After some years could be worth 30 to 50% more than the face value. What can we save for our future generation in the current inflation? Only some small amounts in the form of coins I said.

She smiled and said that she would try to keep aside some coins (for me.)

Here is given two interesting sites from where you could source coins:

(1) www.rareindiancoins.com

(2) www.oldindiancoins.com

The numismatist is Mr. Girish Bhambani.

Prashant Jain has a blog on Indian coins:

His blog is: www.india-coin.blogspot.com

Krause world coins download link is provided.

Following information is the work of Shridhar Patil, Numismatist. His blog http://republicindiacoin.blogspot.in has many other interesting information about coins.

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Identification of genuine & doctored 1996 Subhas Chandra Bose 2 Rupees issue: IN ORDER TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN GENUINE & DOCTORED 1996 SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE 2 RUPEES COIN, ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE BORDERS OF THE COIN. IN CASE OF 1996 ISSUE THE BORDERS ARE VERY THICK AND IN CASE OF 1997 ISSUE THE BORDERS ARE THIN, THIS MEANS IF A 1996 ISSUE IS GENUINE THEN IT SHOULD HAVE THICK BORDERS AND IF THE ISSUE IS DOCTORED ONE (WHEREIN 1997 ISSUE WAS ALTERED TO 1996 BE MISCHIEVOUS PEOPLE) THEN IT WILL HAVE THIN BORDERS AS SIMILAR TO 1997 ISSUE. ALWAYS REMEMBER, LOOK FOR BORDER COMPARISON ON THE PARTS, WHERE THERE ARE NO SHIFTING ERRORS.

Republic of India coins

A good friend of mine, Shri Balakrushnakar has this blog:

www.beekar-the-numismatist.blogspot.com

This is a wonderful source for a beginner to gain very good knowledge
about the coins of Republic of India.

Republic of India coins

For those of you who are interested in collecting Republic of India coins,
a useful website is:
www.republiccoinsofindia.com

One can find the checklist of coins released year-wise with markings
for rare and scarce coins.

Coin collecting made easy through Facebook

Thanks to Facebook, one need not wait for the coin exhibition which happens once in
a blue-moon to get some of those coins you were looking for.

There are many groups in the Facebook where collectors and sellers put up pictures
of coins for auction and sale.

One of my most favourite groups is the:

British India and Republic India Coins Tradings

I shall talk about few others in the coming days...