Hyderabad: An exhibition showcasing the numismatic history of Hyderabad and the tools used to mint coins began at the Saifabad Mint Museum at Mint Compound behind the old
Secretariat building on Wednesday. The exhibition is being held as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.
Speaking on the occasion, P.V. Siva Rama Krishna, deputy bullion officer at the India Government Mint in Hyderabad said, “The sixth Nizam , Mahboob Ali Khan, and the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan are considered to be the fathers of this mint, which was modernised by introducing machinery in 1895. Later in 1903, the entire process of minting in Hyderabad state was overhauled on the lines of European mints and it was moved to Saifabad to start operations in 1903 with the latest machinery available at that time. Consequent to the Federal Financial Integration of Hyderabad state in 1950, the mint was taken over formally by the Government of India.”
Rehan Ahamad, curator, Mint Museum, India Government Mint, Kolkata, said, “The history of coin making started in the thousands of years ago and slowly moved on to other techniques such as die-strike, machine tech and punching tech. The upper side on the face of the coin is called ‘obverse’ meaning the side of a coin or medal bearing the head or principal design (the constant emblem) and on the reverse side of the coin was changed whenever necessary.”
Anuradha Reddy, convener, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Hyderabad Chapter, who visited the exhibition remarked, “As a school girl in the nineteen fifties, I remember my father giving me coins and currency notes of the erstwhile era. I remember my father narrating the process of making coins such as melting, rolling, pickling and polishing, annealing, blanking and security edging, minting, examining and finally weighing and packing. I still have a few coins and notes of that era.”
Entry to the museum is free for all from Wednesday till June 13, from 10 am to 6 pm.
