Hi there!
How are you doing today?
This morning I had a tour down the memory lane as my family and I sat down looking at old albums. My parents’ wedding, their childhood, my childhood and a lot more albums. With that, I also found an album that I had forgotten about for over a decade. It was a coin collection album which I vividly remember buying at the age of 15 when I lived in Mangalore. It contained the 56 precious (to me) coins that I had sorted out neatly year wise and country wise.
These coins belonged to my paternal grandmother who had developed an interest in numismatics a few years before she passed away (according to my parents). I was three when she passed on and I only have fleeting memories of her. Nevertheless to me, these coins are no less than a family heirloom.
We renovated the house seven years after her passing away and it was then that I found these coins in a small wooden box in her cupboard along with a lot of porcelain vessels which had been her other newfound interest. These coins had remained there in the box untouched for over seven years.
It stayed in the box but travelled with me to Mumbai and Bangalore for five years before someone told me that there were albums for these as well. I finally bought an album and arranged the coins in it. The person also suggested not to clean the coins as it might devalue them (Knowing me, he might have guessed I would otherwise scrub them until they shone like a new penny before putting them in the album)
Over the years, I have also added several coins to the collection. Whenever I travel to another country or know someone who is, I ask them to get me coins. Hoping that when these coins go further down the family line, the new coins too will be rare and precious.
Here are a few of my favourites from the collection.
Many a time, we assume that heirlooms are supposed to be priceless like a piece of jewellery or a family home that your grandparents left behind for you. But the truth is anything that has stayed there with your family, cared for and passed on from generation to generation is priceless in itself – not just in value but also in memories.
Look around, if you haven’t yet found your heirloom. It could be something as simple and interesting as your grandmother’s secret curry recipe.
Have you guys discovered your heirlooms yet? Tell me in the comments below 🙂
Love,
Ashwini
Featured image: Photo by Digital Buggu from Pexels
