No takers for gold, silver memorabilia

Available at State Bank of Mysore, MCC branch; publicity planned

The reason for this is said to be lack of publicity as it was released during the recently concluded Dasara festival.

To coincide with 400th year of Dasara festival, the district administration and MCC have come out with the silver and gold coins of different weights. The silver memorabilia is issued in 100 grams, 50 grams and 25 grams and the gold coins are of 20 grams and 10 grams.

The salient feature of this memorabilia is that on one side there is Amba Vilas Palace and on the other side it carries a logo of 400th year of Dasara. The memorabilia is made out of pure silver and pure gold (999).

K S Raykar, commissioner, MCC told Deccan Herald that it was a joint venture in connection with the historical event of 400th year of Dasara.

Credit

The credit of starting this festival in 1610 goes to Raja Wadiyar. The festival would have been a history had the king not revived it after the downfall of the Vijaynagar empire.

Since then, this festival has been the part and parcel of Mysore and it helped the heritage city to find its place in the global tourist map. Lakhs of people visit the city only to witness this colourful festival.

He said the cost of 100 gram silver memorabilia is Rs 4,800, Rs 2,400 for 50 gram and Rs 1,200 for 25 gram. Where as the cost of 20 gram gold memorabilia is Rs 44,000 and Rs 22,000 for 10 grams.

Pure

The cost may be little higher than the current market price; but they are made out of pure gold and it is certified by an agency recognised by the government.

The MCC purchased gold from a nationalised bank and got the memorabilia done from a government approved agency in Bangalore. Even the silver was purchased from MMTC, a government of India undertaking.

Almost all the employees of the corporation have purchased the silver memorabilia according to their purse. But the demand is not as much as they had expected mainly due to lack of publicity, he added.

At SBM

The commissioner said these memorabilia are put on sale at the State Bank of Mysore, corporation branch in the city. Enquiries are not much for the gold coins.

Plans are afoot to step up publicity for these memorabilia at all star hotels in Bangalore as the flow of tourists to Bangalore is much when compared with Mysore. “We are optimistic that the demand for these silver and gold memorabilia will pick up in the coming days. If demand is more, we don’t mind getting some more numbers”.

Publicity

Raykar said they decided to bring out memorabilia during eleventh hour because of which they had a very little time in giving due publicity for the same.

It is for the first time, they are undertaking such a venture. The interested public can directly purchase them from the bank, he noted.