‘I want to encourage children to take up hobbies’

Pune-based numismatist, Narendra Tole, started collecting coins when he was studying in Std IX. As a child, he preferred to save pocket money instead of spending it. He was fascinated by coins and currency notes and the currency of other countries. Tole spoke to DNA about his hobby, his range of collection and his museum, which is set to open on November 22.

What does your collection include? What is your most prized possession?
My collection has over 60,000 currency notes and 25,000 coins from 220 countries. As a student, I started collecting foreign coinage from hotels and airports. I even requested foreign tourists to part with some coins for my collection.

I have a lot of colonial currency, silver coins from ancient India, and a variety of contemporary coins from all over the world. My collection also has silver Re1 coins dating back to British India, from 1835 to 1947.

There are Indian coins belonging to the 6th and 4th century BC. The European influence gets manifested in the form of Greek, Dutch, Portuguese and French coinage in India. I cannot single out any one item from it and my entire collection is my prized possession.

What is your immediate goal?
I have accomplished my biggest goal, which was to set up a numismatic museum in the city. It will be thrown open to the public on November 22.

There will be no entry fee. Once the museum opens, I wish to bring school students from Stds VIII, IX and X on visits. I hope to encourage them to take up any hobby of their choice and devote time to it, apart from their routine work.

I also plan to conduct lectures and interactive sessions on numismatics and different facets of coin collection for them. I would even assist schools in organising transport and logistics for the students in case they do not have a school bus facility.

What message do you want to send across to people?
Through my museum, I want people to realise that hobbies are an integral part of our lives. Every person must identify any particular thing that he/she finds joy in doing and take at least some time out for that. I don’t mean only coin collection.

Hobbies are of all kinds: some people like collecting playing cards, while others love collecting seashells, and yet others adore dance and music. But all hobbies are the same, none are superior or inferior. People should thus discover their true interests and do whatever they like. One can only benefit from a hobby; there are no losses involved.