With time, computers have taken over all kinds of imagination, and today not many think of the process of how the coins and notes are printed. In an effort to re-establish the connection with the process, the government of India has decided to turn the Saifabad mint into a national museum where one can see 100 years old mint machines and get to know the process of currency making.

If you had watched Don 2 starring Shah Rukh Khan, you would surely be intrigued by the whole process of ‘minting’ money. There was a time when people and children would collect coins, and there was lots of curiosity about them.

One of the key mints in India happens to be the mint at Cherlapally. However, during the Nizam times, the mint at Saifabad was used to mint coins and later paper currency. The building that is more than 100 years old and houses machinery from the same era will now be converted into a ‘Mint Museum.’ Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL), which is a central body, is working on the process of making it a full-fledged museum.

As a part of the ‘Azadika Amritostav’ program, a special exhibition will be held in the Saifabad building during the second week of December. Following this, the process of converting it into a museum will begin.

Already, the work to revive the old machinery has begun, and the government has sought the help of the INTACH Hyderabad chapter to take up the work. It is the first time in the history of India that a century-old building is being converted into a mint museum.

Various rulers of Hyderabad took up minting activities from the 18th century onwards, and in 1918, the currency law was passed, and notes were printed for the very first time in Hyderabad city.