Tuesday, April 23, 2013


Numismatist of unique currency notes


INDORE: At an age when most married men work hard for his family and start investing money in bonds, insurance schemes, RohitSoni, a 27-year-old married software engineer is living out his hobby --investing almost half of salary every month to collect rare currency ending with lucky number '786'.

Soni took to numismatics in 1996 when he got first currency note ending with the lucky number while buying a cricket ball. "I started searching for such notes and started buying from my friends and relatives. Later, I started searching for people who have record in such collections. It was challenging, but I did not give up," he said.

Besides collecting currency notes, he has a fancy for stamps and commemorative coins. He said saying, "The US has 50 states and each state has its unique identity engraved on it. I have quarter cent of each state in my collection."

His passion for currency is evident from the fact he has not only Indian currency, but currency collection of more than 40 countries. From 2008, he visits currency fair, organized in metro cities, 2-3 times in a year and buys rare currency note of Rs 5 for Rs 3,500. He said, "I started searching on internet and got to know that currency fairs are a good place where rare notes can be collected. Now, I take leave from office and visit fairs to search for the number." Notes with unique currency come to me due to my links, he boasts.

In his impressive collection there are notes with error, uncirculated currency notes. He has currency notes in denomination of Rs 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, not to speak of the ones ending with number 786. He has 150 notes of Re 1 and Rs 2 ending with number 786. "I have currency of British India period and foreign currency of six countries ending with 786. Star notes or replacement notes are also hard to find. I have currency that had minor error but came into the market. The fancy collection includes notes having number 123456, 786786, 108786," he added.