Sale of royal era relics gives Baghdad auction a nostalgic touch

A man holds up preserved specimens of various banknotes at the auction at the Moudallal cafe in Baghdad on March. - AFP

Baghdad - All sorts of keepsakes are up for grabs: banknotes, coins, stamps and decorations.

At the heart of a Baghdad flea market, nostalgia for Iraq's royal past is on full display as collectors and investors gather to buy relics from a bygone era.
Inside the Moudallal cafe, Arabic for "pampered", a hundred men from across the country carefully follow the auction of mementos from the nearly four decades of monarchic rule that ended with a bloody coup in 1958.
"There is a feeling of nostalgia among the customers. Take the banknotes, their manufacture and quality were much better before, that's why the prices go up," says 52-year-old auctioneer Ali Hikmat.
With a booming voice, the towering man who has worked in the covered market since 1992 offers his goods up for to the highest bidder.
All sorts of keepsakes are up for grabs: banknotes, coins, stamps and decorations.
Most date back to Iraq's royal era, but there are also a few items from the early days of the republic that followed after general Abdel Karim Kassem toppled the monarchy. Nothing is on offer from the decades of rule under Saddam Hussein.
The founding of the Kingdom of Iraq under Faisal I marked the emergence of the modern state after the fall of the Ottoman empire.
For the Iraqis hunting out their own souvenir of the past, the period of royal rule represents a golden age for their country.
"Of course we are nostalgic for the royal period. All the main structures in this country were built during that period, be it bridges, dams and the rest," says 53-year-old Ahmad Kamal, who owns a real estate agency in Baghdad. "The royal era marks the beginning of the Iraqi state," he says. "If we compare it to today, it was much better before."
For clothing merchant Hussein Hakim, searching out souvenirs from previous epochs helps him to delve into Iraq's rich heritage. "The past fascinates me," he says.
"I'm interested in the history of my country through the objects I collect from the Ottoman period up until the republic, but it's the royal era that I prefer most," the 43-year-old adds, proudly displaying two effigies of King Ghazi and King Faisal II.
The weekly auction in this small cafe is exceptional not only because of the sheer number of items on sale, but also because everything must be sold regardless of the price.

Past peaceful and fascinating