Rare and old coins sold away against laws

Bishnu Prasad Aryal
Kathmandu, June 19

Although a coin or currency more than 100 years older is prohibited by law to sell abroad, the historically and culturally important old and rare coins of Nepal are being taken to other countries without interruption.

Numismatics is a hobby of collection of coin or note of any country. A coin or currency is archaeological, historical and cultural asset, which is used to carry out a research or study on culture, history, politics, society and anthropology of antiquity.

According to the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1956, any coin or denomination older than 100 years is restricted to send away from the country or move from one place to another. Clause 13, Sub-clause (1) of the Act clearly mentions that a prior permission from the Department of Archaeology must be taken before moving such monuments, archaeological objects and curios abroad or inside the country. However, there is no such practice.

“A bulk of such entities is being taken away from the country without any obstacles,” said Jal Krishna Shrestha, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Federal Affairs, Constituent Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture (MoFACAPAC).

Old coins of Lichhavi, Malla and Shah period, other belonging to even 300-200 BC, are available in Nepal. The DoA purchases or collects the older and rare coins to enhance the national museum. Among others, a very rare coin belonging to unifier of Nepal Prithvi Narayan Shah has been decorated in British Museum, London, said Shrestha, who is spokesperson for MoFACAPAC and also a collector.

The coins, archaeological sources, are generally sold ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 600,000 per piece. They are made of gold, silver and copper. Old and rare Nepalese coins issued by Man Dev, Trailokya Bikram, Prithvi Narayan Shah, Pratap Singh and Rana Bahadur Shah among others are sold on higher prices. If a foreign collector wants to have it, one may pay more than the aforementioned amount.

Ghana Shyam Rajkarnikar, a collector of coins dating from Man Dev to present period and president of Nepal Numismatic Society, said that people use the coins issued by Prithvi Narayan Shah and Chakra Bratendra Malla as medicines during the delivery problems. “Coins are also used as ornaments in the festivals and special occasions,” he said.

The coins are smaller in shape and easy to carry. “If a person keeps it in a pocket or anywhere, it will go unnoticed and will be easily taken away,” said Shrestha. “This is the reason behind smuggling of archaeological entities,” he added.

There are about a dozen of local collectors including Bhupendra Narayan Shrestha, who owns coins worth about Rs 10 million, in the country. They also sell the coins when they are in need of money, said Shrestha.

A person who trades monuments or illegally carries is fined from Rs 10,000 to Rs 100,000 and six months to three years jail term separately or both, according to laws. SSP Rana Bahadur Chand, chief at the Department of Crime Investigation, said that there was no record of coin cases. “If we are informed, we will take action as per the law,” he added.

During British queen Elizabeth’s Nepal visit in 1956, she asked about coins of Nepal. Four years after her visit, DoA initiated to establish museum in the country but it is yet to manage well. However, there is not a specific data of coins available. “Before the time of then king Mahendra, who died in early 1970s, there was no cataloguing system of coin issuances,” said Rajkarnikar.