museum: Museum Showcases T Coin Heritage | Hyderabad News
Weighing scales imported from London, medals, tokens made in Saifabad mint, hundreds of photos of people who manually engraved and dye pinched coins, coins of Asaf Jah dynasty minted in Saifabad Mint, commemorative coins, as well as miniatures of stamps printed by Security Printing Press (SSP), Hyderabad, were showcased at the museum. A stone boulder which was used to fit an anvil dye for coin stamping was also displayed at the Museum.
The coin museum showcases the history of the coins and currency produced by the Saifabad Mint, during the Nizam era. The Saifabad Mint, known also as Royal Mint, is a 122-year-old building and houses a vast collection of the coins that were used during the time of Mir Mahboob Ali Khan (1869-1911), the Sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, who established it.
Though the mint, which actively produced currency until 1997 was shifted to Cherlapally, officials of the India Government Mint, Hyderabad (IGMH), preserved this machinery that manufactured currency back in those times, to reveal the truth behind coins and currency, a senior official of IGMH, who played a key role in organising the coin museum, told TOI.
The official also explained there are four mints, including Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Noida in the country, but, currently, Hyderabad Mint (Saifabad Mint) is the only mint in the country, being thrown open for the public, as part of ‘Azad Ki Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations for a week.
The process of revival of the machinery that manufactured currency back in those times is actively taking place to be displayed to people during the one-week exhibition. Mints have always been known to be secretly run by ruling establishments across history amidst tight security and this exhibit is one of those rare events where such a place is being thrown open to the public.
Efforts are on to create a permanent museum at the Royal Mint located at Mint Compound, Saifabad, which had produced the first machine-minted coins in the country.
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