Thiruvananthapuram:
A penny less from his stock means a penny more for his home. Such is the business of Salim, who sells vintage coins to sustain his family in Thiruvananthapuram.
On the pavement in front of the sprawling government secretariat complex, Salim spreads out his collection of coins for sale, some of them dating three centuries back.
The collection that Salim proudly displays to attract numismatists includes coins dating to reign of the last Maharaja of Trvancore Balarama Varma.
Salim entered the coin business 13 years ago after failing as a fisherman, bus conductor and commercial painter.
He was attracted into the business of selling "money for money" by his friend Babu, also vintage coin vendor in Kollam town.
Salim gets the coins mostly from numismatic exhibitions and some times procures them from coin sellers in other parts of the country.
"The value of the vintage coins depends on how old they are. Foreign coins also fetch higher margin", Salim told PTI.
The growth of tourism has helped his business in recent years.
"Foreign visitors passing by the pavement will not fail to have a look at my stock. Often, they pick up one or two. It is cheaper for them to have vintage coins here than what they pay in their country", Salim claimed.
Apart from vintage coins, Salims collection on sale include stamps, currency notes and medallions and souvenirs.
According to Salim, the local interest in coin and stamp collection was on the increase.
"Mostly students come to me in search of coins or souvenirs as part of their projects. They vary from doing research in history to commerce and business management students, he said.
In some months, specially tourist season, the profit would be upto Rs 5000 a month, Salim said.
Often in the past he had ran into problems with policemen, when they were out on streets to deal with public protests staged before the secretariat. Now, they realise he was selling coins to eke out a living and leave him undisturbed, he said.
He dismisses doubts on the authenticity of his collection.
"I have a catalogue which serves as a reference. When I go out to buy coins, I refer to it to ensure that they are not fake," he said, adding, after a moment pause "after all coin collector knows his coins".