Guarding Dh70k coin collection

In the classifieds section of a newspaper, under ‘General Items’, there is a three line brief that reads: “Coins & Currency notes, from different countries, personal collection, for sale. Contact 055-2795480”.

by

Nivriti Butalia

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Published: Sun 18 Aug 2013, 12:32 AM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 6:11 PM

When Khaleej Times dialled the number and reached a man called Roshan Syed he was offering Friday morning prayers at the mosque, but promised to ring back – which he did, assuming the call was a buyer for his coins.

Syed, 27, is a security guard with Al Jaber Coins at HUDCO in Abu Dhabi. The name of his employer is something of a coincidence to him, as Syed has been collecting coins for twenty years.

Back when he was in the 4th grade, in Kottayam, India, he “went to buy a toffee, and the shopkeeper had to return 25 paisa but instead he returned an American dime”. This is how his interest in numismatics – the rather technical term for coin-collection — began.

The same day, his grandmother gave him one small Travancore India coin. Syed was 9-years-old and nobody else in his family had the same interest. “Nobody wanted to waste money collecting coins,” Syed says. His sister is one year younger than him and “she thinks I am a mad person”.

The family business was textiles and his father had a textiles shop in Kottayam. Syed was the aberration. He says his parents neither actively supported nor discouraged his interest. But mustering the confidence, that’s how he started collecting what is a collection now more than 40-kilograms heavy.

Syed says he cannot estimate how many coins make up the entire collection as there are too many to count, but he thinks many come from an ancient time – “some are silver, some are very old, some are from the Chinese dynasty” — and so he estimates his possession to be valued at Dh60,000. The money value of the paper currency he owns is more modest, about Dh12,000.

Syed owns 400 different notes from 169 countries — half of which, like the coins – are lying in Kottayam, and the other half in his cupboard in Abu Dhabi. He says he would approach foreigners. He would introduce himself, talk about his passion, and invariably be left with a memento from which ever country his newfound friend happened to be from.

In 2009, Syed moved to Abu Dhabi to take a job as a security guard. But the move was also very much in the hope of meeting an international group of people through whom he could further his coin collection. Back then he worked at the Higher College of Technology. He worked the night shift — 6pm to 6am — and for two years he feels his time was “wasted there”.

Now with his current employer, he works in the day, has time to nurture his hobby and gets to meet people from all walks of life. He can now place a person geographically. Syed isn’t without a sense of humour. He says you never know who has a coin story or coins to swap or just give away, “that’s why I am nice to everyone I meet”. Evidently, they don’t call him “Mr Coin” for nothing.

While Syed also collects note currencies, he seems to favour the sound of metal. Even so, he says, “I have sold notes of 190 different currencies”.

He initially says his favourite coins are old dirhams from 1971 of denominations one, five and ten, followed by 1995 vintage Elvis Presley coins that he bought off eBay for Dh180.

But then — perhaps realising his selection will soon be made public — he quickly adds: “No, actually, my favourite coin is the Akbar coin my wife once gave me.”

The advertisement in the paper seems to have done the trick. Friday has been good for him. He has acquired 14 new coins that are, well, old, and from regions that no longer exist, such as British Cypress, British Jamaica and British Mauritius. He was also made an offer for 150 coins (of the 270 that he has with him in Abu Dhabi).

“Most of my coins are back in India,” he says, “but if you want to see my full collection you can YouTube ‘Roshan’ and ‘coins’ — that’s me.” -nivriti@khaleejtimes.com

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