Fancy numbers play a vital role when it comes to collecting Indian Notes

The term given to the study of banknotes is Notaphity. And when you have to study banknotes you would invariably have to collect them. So what are the facts and features about banknotes that excite and lure a collector? Well, that’s a very relative question and it completely depends on the interest of the collector. I have been collecting Indian notes since five years now and I have completely got hooked on to it. Initially all I was interested in collecting was fancy numbered Indian Notes. 

I started with currency notes in India whose serial number ended with the digits 786. The number has a lot of significance for Muslims and it is considered to be a lucky as well. I accidently found a 10 rupee Indian note first with the serial number ending with this lucky number. I did not pay much attention to it. I was at the supermarket and was about to give it away to the owner, when he held it and looked at it for some time. He first thanked me. I wondered why he did that. After questioning him, I realised the importance of these notes. After several requests, I exchanged the note with another one and I kept the lucky 10 rupee Indian note with me. I don’t really know how lucky it was for me, but I surely fell for the idea of collecting more currency notes in India featuring 786 in the serial number. I started checking online for these notes and then found out that collecting Indian notes is a popular hobby that many pursue. I joined a few communities and interacted with several other collectors like me. This way, I started growing my collection of Indian notes slowly.

After I collected quite a few 786 notes, I moved on to sold numbers and super solid numbers. Unlike coins and stamps, serial numbers and fancy numbers play a vital role when you are a collector of banknotes. I slowly learned that there are many who are ready to pay thousands of rupees just for owning special currency notes in India featuring interesting serial numbers!

Going Back to My Childhood Hobby of Collecting Indian Stamps

There are some things in life that you start missing more, the more you start ignoring them. I was like any other kid in school, liked to go out and play football after I finished my homework. Worries were fewer in those days; the only worry was about clearing your class tests. Nobody can forget these fond memories of childhood. Stress levels start increasing as you grow older and each one of us has his or her way to deal with it. Entertainment and sports are the most common ways of tackling stress. But I fell in love with collecting stamps, especially Indian stamps at a very young age. That was my way to de-stress and relax. There was nobody to encourage me; In fact, there were some relatives who told me that I was wasting my time. Nothing could really stop me from collecting Indian Stamps back then. 

I had a group of friends who used to collect Indian stamps as well. Like most other collectors, I started exchanging my stamps for the ones I desired. Slowly but steadily, my collection started growing, A single box was not enough to hold all the Indian stamps that I collected. The next month onwards I decided that I will save my pocket money and buy myself an album for keeping my collecting of Indian stamps safely. I went an extra mile, stopped buying chocolates just to save my pocket money. I did it for the next 3 months and finally I had enough money to buy an album. Ever since I bought that album, I started arranging and sorting the collection of Indian stamps I had, based on different themes. Each page had stamps belonging to a particular theme. Some were famous personalities, some were actors and some featured birds on them and others depicted trains of India. In the whole process, I gained a lot of knowledge about different facets of India. With my stamp collection of Indian stamps, I became richer in knowledge. 

As I started growing older though, I got busy with my work and forgot about my hobby. It was only recently when I checked my old drawer and found my first album of Indian stamps. I was delighted and from that point in time, I decided that I will continue collection Indian stamps!

My Curious Nature Led me to Collecting Indian Notes

As the years pass by, our standards of living always keeps on increasing. And with that, there is a need to release higher denomination currency. Many a times we hear of stories from our parents and grandparents of how they used to buy a lot of things with just 1 rupee or some paisas for that matter. The 100 rupees Indian Notes that we use today might not fetch you anything in maybe 20 years. Its value could be as much a 1 rupee of today’s times. That’s what made me curious about Indian notes and I started collecting them a few years back. I first started collecting Indian notes of 1 rupee denomination. I started looking out for the different kinds of designs that are featured on them. I started looking up on the internet for currency notes in India of the denomination one. Then, I realized that collecting Indian notes is a hobby that many pursue.

That’s what got me going, I started networking with other collectors like me. There are some who have been collecting Indian notes since 30 years, 40 years and so. It feels great to stay in touch with such experts because they keep sharing their insights and opinions about various aspects related to the hobby. I think it is very important to connect with the fraternity at a deeper level for this wonderful hobby to survive. After I ended my quest for collecting 1 rupee Indian notes, I moved on to other denominations. I recently came to know that high value denomination like 1000 rupees was also issued back in the times of East India Company. Then it struck me that 1000 rupees in those days might be worth crores of rupees of today’s times. I asked myself why are Indian notes of the denomination 1 crore released now then? I did a bit of research and found out that such high denominated banknotes are issued by governments only to tackle the problem of inflation. 

Now when I look back I realized that questioning oneself from time to time is what makes you curious and keeps you engaged!

Once a Collector of Old Indian Coins, always a Collector!

Collectors have their own interests. They like to specialize in certain kinds of coins. Numismatics is such a vast subject that the more you learn, the less it is. The world has been ruled by so many emperors. Each one might have issued a different coin under his or her regime. So imagine how many coins are out there to be collected. Just like every other collector, I like collecting Old Indian Coins. Except for British India coins and republic coins if India, I am always looking out for Indian old coins that have been issued from the ancient and medieval times. 

One of the first old Indian coins that I collected was the one I took from my uncle’s collection for free. My uncle was kind enough to give me a silver coin that was issued by Akbar the great. I was in the 6^th or the 7^th standard then and was reading about Akbar and Mughal history in my text books. Holding a coin that was issued under Emperor Akbar himself was an out of the world experience. I unknowingly started falling in love with history. From that point onwards I was always keen on collecting Indian old coins by hook or by crook. It was only when I grew up that I realized that collecting old Indian coins is a hobby that many pursue.  

After a point though, since I belong to a middle class family, I had to take up science and then engineering. Today, I have an IT job in a fairly good company. But somewhere deep down there, there is that collector in me which still wants to collect Indian old coins. I think, no matter what you end up doing, the coin collector in you will always make you keep collecting! Almost like you can’t take out water from the life of a fish!