Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Eleven-year-old Sahir Saxena has a hobby unusual for his age. He is interested in coins - from the ancient to the modern and from Indian to foreign - and collects them.
Currently, his collection has over 600 rare coins. He displayed 60 rare ones of them at an exhibition in the city on Sunday. They include coins from ancient and medieval India, besides from countries like Germany, France and Sri Lanka.
Titled “Coin Expedition – A Journey Through Empires and Eras,” the exhibition drew visitors of all ages. It showcased coins from ancient India, including those from Taxila, the Kushan Empire, and the Chola Dynasty, as well as coins issued by the East India Company, the British Government of India and several foreign countries.
Sahir, who studies in Grade 4, developed an interest in coins and what they tell about the times gone by, when his grandfather, retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Ashish Shrivastava, gifted his collection of coins to the young boy. He is carrying his numismatist grandfather’s legacy forward.
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Sahir’s father Sourabh Saxena is a colonel in the Indian army and his mother Meenal Saxena is a fitness trainer. “I have great interest in history and geography and coins tell us a lot about both. There is a story behind each coin,” Sahir said, adding that he wants to become a footballer and Ronaldo is his idol.
[Story by Staff Reporter]
