Rashmi Rekha Das
Debasish Pradhan’s passion for collecting coins and newspapers of different countries arises from his deep intellectual curiosity about the past
“Dasarathi Pattnaik aka Dasia Aja, the father of the library movement in Orissa, had dedicated his life in the service of creating awareness about the social necessity of libraries. Instead of leading a happy family life, the social reformer preferred to work for the state’s development. The idea of the importance of libraries was sown in his mind by his schoolteacher and Dasia Aja set off with five books in a trunk. Fifty years old at the time, he bequeathed his farmland to his wife and mother and travelled across the state looking for books, magazines, antiques and other collectibles,” said Dasia Aja’s diehard fan Debasish Pradhan who has rare collections of coins and newspapers of different countries. The numismatist spoke to Orissa POST about his hobby and passion.
“I came to know about the library movement spearheaded by Dasia Aja during my visit to Nayagarh district in 2011. I happened to see his library. It was he who, unknowingly, sowed the seeds for doing something different and I started collecting coins and newspapers. So far, I have collected coins of about 70 countries, postal stamps of about 20 countries, daily newspapers of various Indian languages, foreign newspapers of the USA, UAE, Sri Lanka and currency notes of six countries, old Indian coins (those from the British period and even before), Santali and Ho scripts – Santali newspaper and Ho script calendar,” he said.
Born to retired principal of the Regional Institute of Training & Extension, Bhagyadhar Pradhan, and homemaker Santilata Dei, Debasish does not collect coins or stamps to create records or to become popular. All he said was “To many, coin collection seems like a boring and pointless hobby. It reminds you of your grandfather, who had an attic or basement full of miscellaneous hobby items that were off-limits. I actually used to think like that, but over a period of roughly five years I found many reasons to come to like and respect this dying labour of love. There is nothing wrong with collecting coins and pursuing your hobbies in general, as long as you are passionate about it and have a hobby on a budget.”
Teacher by profession, Debasis has a collection of rare photos from popular tourist places of seven states with complete information. “I am collecting coins, newspapers and stamps to set up a mini rural museum for our future generation. I am gathering all the relevant things possible on my part so that the future generation gets the opportunity for live study. Being in the teaching profession, I focus on live education. The traditional classroom concept has seen a paradigm shift over the past few years. With live online education coming to the forefront, quality learning opportunities are being brought at the doorstep of every interested student. My collections, through online education, will help the students derive ideas about history,” he said.
Debasish who teaches CBSE students after quitting his government job said: “I don’t rest content by just collecting coins. I gather information and pictures from various books and other sources about the personality, the dynasty and other things of significance with reference to the coins.”
“The Greeks were the first to mint coins around 650 BC in the Greek settlements in Lydia, Western Turkey. Several coins were found by archaeology in the Greek cities. The smallest coin known as ‘Mashak’ was used in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in 450 BC. It was a silver coin and the embossing was done on one side only while the other side was plain,” he said.
Debasis, who hails from Chingudia, said: “My aim to learn the history behind coins is to convince the youth that coin collection is the most popular of all hobbies. As the coins grow older, they become rarer. Besides, their value keeps rising, as they are made of metals. Unlike stamps that may fade away or lose value with time, coins retain their pristine value.”
Numismatist in a nutshell
Aim: To set up a mini museum
Inspirations: Dasia Aja and grandfather
Other interests: Conducting vocational training for women SHGs
Memorable moment: When he was awarded the gold medal for being the topper in MSW at FM University
