Silver heirloom coins treated as archaeological collections and exempt from net wealth under the Wealth-tax Act.

Silver coins preserved by an assessee family as heirlooms and not intended for sale were treated as collections with archaeological value, so they fell within the exemption for works of art, archaeological collections, or art collections under section 5(1)(xii) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957. The fact that the coins were machine-made did not defeat the exemption, because they were first issues from the mint dating back to the Queen Victoria era and had been retained generation after generation as family collections. They were therefore excluded from inclusion in net wealth.

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Issues: Whether silver coins preserved by the assessee family as heirlooms and not intended for sale were exempt as works of art, archaeological collections, or art collections under section 5(1)(xii) of the Wealth-tax Act, 1957.

Analysis: The coins were found to be first issues from the mint dating back to the time of Queen Victoria, made of silver, not current legal tender, and retained by the family generation after generation as collections. On these facts, the coins were treated as having archaeological value and as collections preserved as heirlooms rather than commercial articles. Their machine-made character did not disqualify them from the exemption.

Conclusion: The silver coin collection fell within section 5(1)(xii) and was exempt from inclusion in net wealth.

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