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Uttar Pradesh numismatist mulls over a coin museum
by Pawan Kumar

     Gorakhpur (UP): Jagdish Khaitan, a numismatist from Gorakhpur boasts of a coin collection with hundreds of coins from different eras in Indian history and from abroad. With a collection growing each day, he is going to open a coin museum. 67-year-old numismatist has been relentlessly collecting coins since 1956, when he went as a student to the Benaras Hindu University and was influenced by fellow students collecting stamps. Khaitan's collection covers a lot from the interesting numismatic history of India. His collection features coins from the time of Mughal emperors such as Akbar, Humayun, and Shah Jahan, and from the time of Sher Shah Suri, Mohammed Tuglaq, Alauddin Khilji of the Delhi Sultanate. He also has coins from around a 100 countries, big and small, from all over the world. "I have coins belonging to the ancient, medieval and modern times. I also have coins from the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal period, various states of India, and various countries of the world. I have coins from almost 100 countries," he said. Bought, bartered, from old shops, coin exchangers, Khaitan has gone through various odds to make his unique collection. Sometimes inviting ridicule from his family for spending too much time with his coins, or just losing himself in search of a coin, Khaitan takes it all in his stride.
-July 31, 2009

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