Turbat: Thousands of old one-rupee coins were sold for millions of rupees in the Makran, Balochistan, on Tuesday in what became a ‘gold rush’ in the area, The News International, Pakistan’s leading English language newspaper reported on Wednesday.
It said throughout the day, people spent their time looking for the humble golden-coloured coin which was being sold for as much as Rs1,000 in some cases — though no one quite knew why.
The paper said It was rumoured later in the day that it was being smuggled to Iran which was buying it because “it contained uranium”. Regardless of whether or not there was any truth in the story, the frenzy persisted all day.
“I had heard another rumour in the morning that jewellers are buying it because it’s full of gold,” The News quoted a beggar Murad Baloch as saying. “I don’t care about rumours. I sold 150 for Rs45,000 and bought myself a new motorbike.” He thinks he has earned it for he has been begging for coins all his life.
it said the news of the coin’s value spread in the Turbat bazaar thanks to beggars like Murad and drug addicts, who had compromised on their usual rate of not taking anything less than five rupees and were insistent on being given one rupee and only one rupee. And when people came to know of the price of the currency, its rates started skyrocketing.
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