NUMISMATIC SOCIETY - MUMBAI

This article appeared originally in Mumbai Mirror, of the Times Of India group.

"Bombay, 1770, 15 Rup.s"

- inscribed on the coin comprising the Mumbai Coin Society logo.



"Rs 15,00,000"

- the approximate antique value of that coin today.



"Money often costs too much."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson



We could transcend Emerson's judgment. Rs 15, in Bombay, 1770, would buy a mansion. Rs 15,00,000, in Mumbai, 2007, wouldn't afford a flat. Still, Sunderbhai Hall overflows with onlookers, and buyers. 50 stalls around the hall's periphery deal in coins, notes and medals marking periods of history, ancient to modern. Mumbai's best currency collections stand displayed in glass cases at the hall's centre, their proud owners ever eager to answer queries, or utter thanks to appreciative sighs. Experts, about to deliver a lecture, discuss numismatic points of distinction, pausing to deliver a sub-lecture to the impromptu crowd gathered around them. The Mumbai Coin Society, formed in 2003, and registered just some weeks ago, purportedly celebrates with this exhibition 60 years of India's independence, as also 150 years since the nation's first war of independence.

It also celebrates, perhaps unwittingly, a more personal freedom. After endless attempts to tie with other numismatic societies – which were as inactive as they were disinterested – the members that formed this society decided to go it alone. Many an annual exhibition, monthly meeting and educative lecture, the society numbered 120. This exhibition has already added 100 more (and counting) to their tribe of currency dealers, collectors and scholars. "The demand for old coins, notes and medals has shot up in the last three years," says Abul Razak Shaikh, the society's secretary who inherited the dealership of such items from his father, taking it to new heights.

Why? The collection of currency requires time (to procure and to maintain) and an in-depth knowledge (cheating is common in this trade). Why would someone in Mumbai's fast lane pause for so long? We spoke to a host of the society's committee members. Among them Ganesh Nene, whose collection of Maratha coins was sparked by some bequeathed him by his grandfather; Dinesh Agrawal, whose interest was aroused out of George 6 th coins his wife received as a wedding gift – he's now sending old currency bearing figures like 4 and 16 to a London auction; and Dinesh Hegde, who sprouted his hobby from pure curiosity, today boasting 1/12 Anna British coins (1942) which were never issued, because the government decided to melt the copper instead to fund the second world war.

"Investment," was the unanimous answer. With yearly returns extending to 100%, and price fluctuations far more stable than the sensex, currency collection enables middle and upper class buyers to build something like what Nene calls his "pension fund". Also providing them an investment subject a trifle more fascinating than balance sheets: each collector, following a separate numismatic specialization, studies the history of an era.

These reasons, coupled with greater Indian spending power and awareness are supposedly causing a boom in this "sector". So much so that committee members are actually considering petitioning the government to allow trade in such currencies (trading in heritage coins is highly restricted) under a regularized body such as the SEBI for securities exchange.

This would, along with providing investors an alternate portfolio option, preserve the country's heritage, preventing these coins from entering foreign hands. Yet, another channel prompting 'saving' (where the money stays as a reserve. Eg. gold) as opposed to 'investment' (where the money is used productively. Eg. Mutual funds, stocks and shares) might not be recommended now, when, 60 years into her independence, poised India needs every rupee. But even to restrict such effectively, the body the members plead for, is much needed.