A Dubai-based coin collector tells Karen Ann Monsy why his pet hobby is not all about rolling in money

It’s not everyday you get to meet someone who can rattle off all the events that make up Indian history — and at the drop of a hat, too. But seated comfortably in his Mirdiff residence, 43-year-old Mitresh Singh barely pauses to recollect as he reels off one historical era after another — beginning at 2,500 BC with the Indus Valley civilisation. Such extensive knowledge — an ability history students would kill for — is not the result of poring over ancient books, as Singh will tell you, but purely courtesy of the unique coin collection he has amassed over the last 35 years.

A senior manager of Barclays Bank, he explains how “the desire to preserve culture as exemplified through a medium that you can hold and touch” drives him. “It’s a way of remaining in touch with the glorious past, and in a way, with our ancestors, too.” Singh makes it clear that he does not collect coins for investment purposes, but solely for their historical significance and his personal knowledge. “I also wanted my children to know their history from a complementary source rather than just reading it from textbooks.”

When Singh promises that his collection will allow history to literally unfold before you — he does not disappoint. As he displays dolphin-shaped coins and bank notes from countries that no longer exist, Singh’s enthusiasm is almost contagious, and one begins to understand that element of wonder and mystery he speaks so passionately of. “To think that someone, centuries ago, held the very same coin you hold in your palm right now…” he remarks, lost for words.

Though the father-of-two has been collecting currencies for over three decades now, he says his focussed efforts are a byproduct of the past decade or so. “By focussed efforts, I mean specialisation. I’ve been trying to collect coins and gain insight into the specific period of 6^th to 3^rd century BC when India’s first coinage in the form of unique Punch Marked Coins (PMC) arose.”

While his searches turned fervent fairly recently, Singh asserts the first time was no less exciting. “During a holiday in Manali, North India, I remember tugging the sari of my mother and asking her to request one of the foreign couples in the area for some coins. Eventually, though I was scared, I tapped this couple on the knees — I was that small — and asked for coins. I didn’t even know which country they were from but I remember that the pence coin they gave me — a very round, thick coin — just fired my imagination.” It was thus, that the hobby of a lifetime was born.

Over the years, museum directors and central bankers contributed to Singh’s collection while purchases from auctions and exchanges with worldwide collectors made up the rest. He is unsure of the total number of coins and notes in his 
possession — or of their combined worth — but assures us that of what he has, some are nearly impossible to find elsewhere.

He proves his case by pulling out a bank note bearing the words ‘Republic of Biafra’. “Ever heard of the place?” he asks, with a grin. “Neither did I, till I did a search and found out: Biafra was a breakaway province of Nigeria that existed for just two-and-a-half years in 1967. During this time, they produced their own currency; but when their food and medical supplies were cut off during the war, they were forced to reintegrate with Nigeria.”

Among others, Singh goes on to produce a Qatar & Dubai riyal (which circulated when Dubai was still independent of what is now the UAE), a 
Zimbabwean trillion-dollar note (no longer in circulation), a commemorative coin distributed during the fourth WTO ministerial conference (of which only 1,000 pieces were ever minted), Fanam coins (“which are so small, they could fit in your thumbnail”) and ‘Bank of Hell’ notes (which the Chinese burn in memory 
of their ancestors and which is never offered to a 
living person because of, well, obvious reasons).

There are grades for bank notes as there are for coins, and as Singh points out some coins that aren’t in MS-69 condition (the top grade in coins), he also cautions: “The worst thing you can do as a collector is to try and wipe these coins clean, as archaeologists derive a lot of value from the dirt embedded in the coins to date ancient ones.”

The longest Singh has had to wait for an acquisition is five to seven years — for the Gandhara Punch Marked Coins, India’s first coins, a rarity, as only a few made it to the numismatic market. “You have to realise why they’re so difficult to obtain,” he says, in earnest. “They’re not in the public domain nor in the numismatic collectors’ domain. So, one has to meet the right people, tell them of your hobby, make the right contacts — the process could take years.”

The long wait notwithstanding, Singh admits he has also encountered cheats, who took his money and disappeared. “We depend heavily on creating new contacts all over the world, so yes, I have had my share of bad experiences.” Yet, he feels the struggle is worth it — because that’s just the other side of the coin.

karen@khaleejtimes.com