Jamshedpur Coin Museum on Monday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, May 16: Small change can be a great teacher.

Come tomorrow, and schoolchildren will get a chance to arm themselves with knowledge about cultures, history and diverse civilisation across the world.

The Jamshedpur Coin Collector’s Club, which promotes numismatics and philately among students, will celebrate International Museum Day at coin museum in Sakchi tomorrow, where school students will get a free entry.

Young enthusiasts can either come in groups or with their parents to enjoy a different day out during their ongoing summer vacations.

The coin museum will also rope in its members to make students understand the particulars about a particular coin, the significance of the substance it is made of, its period and its importance.

“This is the first time we are celebrating the International Museum Day. After all, this is the only coin museum in the whole of Jharkhand with a responsibility to spread awareness in the field. We want this event to generate interest in numismatics, considered to be one of the best hobbies so far, among school students. Although we charge a nominal entry fee of Rs 3 for children and Rs 6 for adults, tomorrow it will be free for schoolchildren. Waiving the entry fee for a day will at least encourage more number of students to visit the place,” said Kalyan Guha, founder and secretary of Jamshedpur Coin Collector’s Club.

Contributed by various members of the club, the coin museum has a collection of rare coins from different eras in history. The oldest of all is the bend bar punch coin from the time of emperor Asoka from the Maurya dynasty , circa 300 BC. This apart, the latest coin on Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, launched in 2010 with a denomination of Rs 150, is also available at the museum.

The coin museum was inaugurated in March 2009 while the Jamshedpur Coin Collector’s Club was formed in 1994 and has been hosting an annual numismatics and philately exhibition titled Jamcoin every year.

“We have coins that are priceless. If people visit the museum, they will not only earn knowledge but get a priceless experience,” said Guha.

Although the museum receives about 50 visitors everyday, it has decided to take steps to increase awareness and promote numismatics among GeNext.

The secretary has decided to write to all schools and invited them to visit the museum and make students aware about the various lost chapters of the bygone era.

The club has also decided to write to various city hotels to target foreign guests, who are perceived to take special interest in numismatics, though some of them do visit the museum on a regular basis.

“Coins are the windows of knowledge. From them, you get to know the history, civilisation, economy, and even psychology of a particular time, which makes it more interesting. I hope the initiatives will result in more number of visitors who will take interest in this hobby,” added Guha.