Compilation of Famous Banknote Collectors

When banknotes were first introduced, they were, in effect, a promise to pay the bearer in coins, but gradually became a substitute for the coins and a form of money in their own right. For some banknote collecting is a expensive hobby but for some they collect banknotes because they want to share information and unravel the history of each nation. Indeed, banknote collecting is a fascinating and often very lucrative hobby shared by millions around the globe.

Rezwan Razack


Biggest Indian Paper Money Collector

Primary Author of The revised standard reference guide to Indian Paper Money

He is the Chairman of the International Banknotes Society - India Banknote Collector's Chapter. Born in Bangalore, Rezwan Razack, the second son of Razack Sattar grew up in Bangalore where his father handled the family retail business. 

Rezwan attended the prestigious St. Joseph’s College of Commerce. As a student, he won many laurels both academically and in extracurricular activities. Graduating with a degree in Commerce with a fifth rank in the State, Rezwan entered the family retailing business. Rezwan dabbled in Real Estate trading and diversified into Property Development in Bangalore in 1985.

Better known as the Managing Director of the Prestige Group, one of South India’s leading Property Developers, Rezwan Razack is also India's Biggest Collector of Indian Banknotes. Rezwan is the paradigm of an unassuming bureaucrat in the business realm. Having over thirty years of business development experience, Rezwan now handles all construction and engineering activities in the Prestige Group. He has built a highly motivated contracting and engineering team, creating an atmosphere for people to effectively execute their assignments.

Rezwan is very passionate about Indian Paper Money and his collection as a specialist hobby. He possesses one note of every variety of paper money pertaining to India since its inception till date. His collection was built over a period of 40 years, coupled with in-depth research, study and learning on this subject. As a result of this Research on Indian Paper Money, Rezwan co-authored ‘The Revised Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money’. This book was released in January 2012.

Currently Rezwan is the Chairman of International Bank Note Society - India Banknote Collectors’ Chapter. Rezwan was awarded the 2010 Achievement Award by the International Bank Note Society for significant contribution to The Advancement of Numismatic Knowledge by his article 'Banknotes of Portuguese India'. Rezwan also won the Fred Philipson Award for the best article in IBNS Journal 2010.

Kishore Jhunjhunwalla

Collector of Republic India banknotes, Co-Author of The revised standard reference guide to Indian Paper Money. He is also the Author of The standard reference guide to Indian paper money by Kishore Jhunjhunwalla (2000)

Kishore Jhunjhuwalla was born in Bombay on 13th January 1944 into an Agarwal business family from Rajasthan. His father was a first generation businessman, and Kishore joined him soon after attending his Inter-Science level from the University of Bombay in 1962. He spent his career in the family business of rubber and rubber products up to 1997.

Kishore has been collecting banknotes since 1957. The seeds of his hobby were planted within him when one of his relatives gave him a One Rupee note, dated 1935 and bearing the portrait of King George V by detaching it from its booklet! Unlike many others, his enthusiasm in collecting did not wane as he grew up; it grew everyday over the years. The outcome was the finest collection of Indian banknotes ever put together in the world.

While collecting, he felt a vacuum of information. There was no single reference work or catalog of Indian paper money which he could utilize to compare his collection. In order that future generations of collectors should not face such deprivation, he decided it was time to turn to the academics of the subject and venture into publishing such a book. 

The result was his book, 'The Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money', published by Currencies and Coins, Kishore's own publication company. It was released on 22nd April, 2000 in Mumbai's magnificent Town Hall building – the very one seen in a vignette on the notes of Bank of Bombay. The book was pioneering effort, it took eight long years in preparation,and it turned out to be a benchmark in comprehensiveness. 

The book was appreciated world-wide for its in-depth information, presentation, cataloging arrangement and high quality printing. It received the coveted 'Best Book of the Year' award from the International Bank Note Society. In 2005 Mr. Jhunjhunwalla met Mr. Rezwan Razack and found in him the suitable person to carry forward the mantle of collecting as well as researching Indian paper money. The meeting has resulted in the publication of this book.

Mr. Jhunjhunwalla's publications include:

• Indian Paper Money Since 1950 (1997)
• The Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money (2000)
• Paper Money of India, by P.L. Gupta (2000, as publisher)
• Standard Guide to Indian Paper Money – 1947 to 2010 (2011, as co-author)

Athani Mahalingeswar


Republic Indian paper money, stamps, coins

Octogenarian Athani Mahalingeswar’s antique collections are fascinating. His extensive collection on heritage coins dating from 400 BC to the present, forms merely one part of it. Mahalingeswar is the proud possessor of the first Petromax lamp in history. “It was left by the English at the Chikmagalur headquarters of the Coffee Board’s and I bought it for Rs 50,” he smiles. He also has a beautiful Austrian lamp with majestic carvings, which is over 200 years old and extremely heavy. “It was a gift from an English gentleman, who was the chief of the Bengal-Nagpur Railways in 1955,” he says. His calligraphy collection includes nibs, feathers and ink pots of all ages. The most interesting of them being the ink tablets, which used to be dissolved in water in the olden days. He also has the earliest telegraph, used as a means of communication.

Murali Thantry


Collects Indian paper Money, British India Coins

He is a member of Karnataka Numismatic Society and International Bank Note Society. His collecting interest is predominantly British India coinage (1835-1947) and Banknotes of British India, Republic India & Polymer Banknotes.

A native of Moodabidri, in Dakshina Kannada District, Murali Thantry was born in Bangalore, completed his Bachelor's of Commerce from Bangalore University. Murali is currently employed with IBM India Pvt. Ltd., as a Project Manager. 

Murali Thantry's hobbies started with collecting stamps at the age of 10 and over the years built a diverse collection of global coins and banknotes. He finally concentrated on collecting Indian banknotes and coins with prime focus on British India banknotes - a prefix-wise compilation and coins from 1835 to 1947. Murali's Republic India banknote collection mainly consists of notes with exquisite numbers such as 111111, 333333, 555555, etc. Murali Thantry's fascination of collecting Indian banknotes started when his maternal uncle gave him 1000/- to be deposited in the Bank. Murali now has a substantially good collection of British India Banknotes, Coins & Republic India banknotes.

Murali Thantry has participated in many exhibitions conducted by Karnataka Numismatic Society (KNS) and won many prizes in almost all the events he participated in. Murali was the Vice-president for Karnataka Numismatic Society for 4 years and a committee member for 8 years. During these tenure KNS grew phenomenally in terms of revenues and memberships. Murali also regularly delivers lectures on numismatics in the Society's meetings and also actively participates in conducting exhibitions.

Percy Siganporia

Known for his Collection of 10 Rupees from 16 Countries

Percy Siganporia was born and brought up in Bombay (now Mumbai), is the youngest son of Phiroze and Soonoo. Having completed his Bachelor of Science and Computer Management Studies from Bombay University, took up Computer field and served HSBC Bank for more than 2 decades , as Vice President, IT Development. When he was nine his grand-father gifted him a box full of old stamps. 

His serious collection of stamps started only in 1990 when he bought an incomplete collection of King George VI of the British Commonwealth and slowly progressed to almost near completion and had one of the biggest collection of Br. Commonwealth KG VI in Bombay.

Percy started his banknotes hobby by chance, when he happened to pick up a Paper Money Catalogue book of Mr. Manik Jain in early 2000 in one exhibition. He was surprised at the number of Signature varieties and prefixes each denomination had. Since childhood, his favorite number has always been “10”, being a perfect number and in his studies too, he used to excel with 10 out of 10. So he chose ‘10 Rupees’ as his main subject of collection and started Post-Independence prefix-wise.

Sometime in mid-2001, he met Mr. Kishore Jhunjhunwalla in an exhibition and upon receiving his autographed book of IPM, became more involved in this hobby. Mr. Jhunjhunwalla has since been his guide and encouraged him to go even further and excel in this hobby.

While referring the World Paper Money Volumes, Percy realized that 10 Rupees were issued by more than 15 countries , including India and soon embarked upon buying every 10 Rupees which came his way, that too prefix-wise. He now has one of the biggest collections of ‘10 Rupees’ of the world. In 2007 , Percy met Mr. Rezwan Razack who has since been his main source of inspiration and knowledge on the banknotes of India. Percy was also instrumental in the preparation of the Revised Standard Reference Guide to IPM and shared valuable information with the authors.

Percy enjoys travelling to various places in India and abroad. His other interests includes sketching and listening to old movie songs. Currently Percy is the Membership Secretary of IBNS – India Banknote Collectors’ Chapter, IBNS & Life Member of Mumbai Coin Society. Percy is also doing research on the 10 Rupees Unifaces of British India and constantly seeks information on its Dates, Signatories, Prefixes and Issue Circles.

Nilaish Sharma FRNS



Collector of World paper money, Indian paper money, specialisation:Presidency Banknotes of India-1770-1861 A.D., and Author of its reference guide, stamps and coins and Proprietor, NILAISH ESQ.

Nilaish Sharma FRNS is a fellow of the Royal Numismatic Society and Co-Founder of Priceless Collectables LLP. He is a dynamic marketing professional with research orientation and equipped with more than 4 years of writing and presenting papers in international mathematical seminars and conferences. His childhood hobby of collecting unique collectibles, is now converted into a passionate of business venture. He has been collecting and researching about Numismatics & Philately of India and world since 1998.

He has been collecting rare banknotes, stamps and coins for past 12 years and had been analyzing, the market growth of collectibles closely in India and abroad. He has also published many articles and books to express the ingenious information about the rarities of these collectibles. He also issue certificates for authenticity for collectibles.

Rajender Maru



Collector of Indian Paper Money, Coins, stamps

Rajender Maru has led an active life as a successful businessman and a management wizard.A visionary entrepreneur of distinctive ideas,he had led Maru Group of companies into the premier league. He started his business of Bank notes, Coins and Stamps in the year 1966. He is a master businessman, a highly-motivated and results oriented person with a mission to save historical treasures of worldwide and to spread the awareness of philately & numismatic in upcoming generation.

Dr. Dilip Rajgor (Indian ancient coins and paper money)

Dr. Dilip Rajgor is an archaeologist whose research interests cover a wide spectrum: from prehistoric river Sarasvan to Brahmi script, and early Historic India, palaeolinguistics to numismatics. In all these fields he has published original work.

Dr. Rajgor received his Master's degree in Indian history,culture and archaeology with a Post-Graduate Diploma in linguistics from the M. S. Universe of Baroda (1997). He holds doctorate in Ancient Indian Culture from the University of Bombay (1995).

He has edited two bi-monthly bulletins, viz. Khabamama and ICS Newsletter from 1987-94. Since 1999, he is a member of the Editorial Board of Electronic Journal of Indian Archaeology on the Internet. His published works include Standard Catalogue of Sultanate Coins of India (1991); Studies in the Coinage of the Western Ksatrapas (with Amiteshwar Jha in 1994) and History of the Traikutakas (1998). His forthcoming titles include Numismatic Chronology of Gujarat; Punch-marked Coins of Early Historic India, and History of Gujarat. 

He has contributed fifty-two research articles to various journals and books. He has also participated in various international and national seminars and conferences. He was awarded the "Lowick Memorial Grant" of the Royal Numismatic Society, UK in 1991; and the "Indological Research Fellowship" of the Asiatic Society of Bombay in 1994-95. Dr. Rajgor is also a recipient of the "Prof. H.D. Sankalia Young Archaeologist Award" for the year 1997. At present,, he is working on his multi-disciplinary project, "Rediscovering Palaeo-drainage Network of Sarasvati River in Kachchh (Gujarat)".

Amarbir Singh (Osmania Currency notes, Indian paper money)

Amarbir Singh is an advanced researcher on the banknotes and coins of the Princely State of Hyderabad. He is on the IBNS (International Bank Note Society) panel of experts for Indian Princely States. Amarbir established the India Banknote Collectors' Chapter under the IBNS. He is also a Research Associate with Deccan Heritage Trust. In the book, The Revised Standard Reference Guide to Indian Paper Money by Kishore Jhunjhunwalla, co-authored with Rezwan Razack, he has contributed the chapter on Hyderabad Banknotes (also known as the Osmania Currency banknotes). He stays in Hyderabad (India).

Bazil Shaikh (Indian Paper money collector)

He is a co-author of The Paper & the Promise A Brief History of Currency & Banknotes in India 3rd Revised Edition together with Sandhya Srinivasan. It was published in the year 2009 by Reserve Bank of India Dept. of Currency Management, Museum Cell.

Sources:

http://en.wikicollecting.org/list-of-famous-banknote-collectors
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/19257/passed-down-ages.html
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/at-80-he-still-craves-for-those-souvenirs/article1359711.ece
http://www.linkedin.com/in/nilaish
http://www.coinnetwork.com/profile/MuraliThantry
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/percy-siganporia/12/645/a94
http://www.indianbanknotes.com/about-ibn/the-team.html
http://www.coinnetwork.com/profile/RajenderMaru
http://collectorssocietypune.com/members.html
http://rajendermaru.com/index.html
http://www.printsasia.com/book/palaeolinguistic-profile-of-brahmi-script-dilip-rajgor-p-g-patel-8177020234-9788177020236
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Amarbir_singh/sandbox
http://www.printsasia.com/book/the-paper-and-the-promise-a-brief-history-of-currency-and-banknotes-in-india-bazil-shaikh-sandhya