At some point in time, more than 90% of the world population has tried to start the hobby of collecting coins. Some of the people are so obsessed with the subject of numismatics that they have seriously pursued the hobby of coin collecting. This hobby is an art and requires a lot of hard work and dedication, as well as patience.

To quote Geoffrey Cope, “Collecting the coins, is collecting the art in the form of coins is not only what and when we study but also the emotions when we hold the coin as a piece of history.”

There are many reasons why people consider coin collecting as a fantastic hobby. It is a hobby which is a chronological record of the country’s history as well as the art. However, it is a bit difficult to start this particular hobby. Also, you need to choose the level of coin collecting as per your interests. Your interest and readiness to invest the amount of time, money, and efforts for the pursuit of the hobby determines your level of the coin collecting hobby. Usually, kids start at an early age by collecting the present currency of their country. Later on, they gain more interest and start collecting rare and old stuff.

Like coins of other countries, old coins of India tell the story of the progress of the Indian civilization. In the ancient days, people use to barter different things which were used for their daily life. With the discovery of the metals, they started to use metals coins for purchasing their daily requirements.

The use of metal, which include silver and copper coins was started in India during (400 BCE – 100 C) and they bore numerous symbols of plants and animals. Kautilya, mentioned the minting of the coins in his famous book Arthashastra under the government’s rule.

The Middle Ages saw the extensive use of the gold coins under the rule of the Gupta Empire. These coins used to depict the current ruler as the warrior and verses in Sanskrit which was the elite language of that age.

The late Middle Ages, or the time of Muslim rulers, saw the prominence of the silver metals being used as the coins. The silver coins bore beautiful Islamic calligraphy. At that time, the lower denominations of the copper coins were also in circulation. At that time, copper coins of the older kingdoms were also used in various transactions.

In this way, India has minted numerous varieties of coins and learning about them has become a passion for the collectors.