Mohd Shoaib Khan
New Delhi, February 28 (IANS)| It may be called hobby, it may be called dhun, it may be called passion or something else. Syed Rumanul Faizi Yusuf of Patna is fond of collecting old coins. They have more than 7000 coins from ancient times till now.
Yusuf has also preserved the history of medieval and ancient India including rare coins from different countries. At the same time, with these rare coins, he also tried to find its history. With each coin, its year of issue, value and metal etc. are clearly written. Seeing the coins, the memories of the king, maharaja, emperor and nawab etc. of that era are refreshed.
also buys old notes and coins
Actually everyone wants to keep old currency, but Patna resident Yusuf is also fond of buying notes and coins. If they found any old or some different coin, then they bid to buy it. All the coins from the time of Queen Victoria to the present day are in their collection. He is always on the lookout for old coins to increase his collection.
There are also coins from the time of Chandragupta Emperor to Mughal and Shivaji Maharaj.
Yusuf is so fond of collecting coins and notes that at present he has Chandragupta Emperor, Modern to Mughal and Shivaji Maharaj, British Period, Roman Empire, Indo-Greek, Indian Princely States, Indo-French, Indo-Dutch. , Indo-Puchurghese and Ottoman Empire coins and a rare collection of coin sets of 20, 25, 50, 60, 75, 100, 125, 150, 200, 250, 350, 500, 550, 1000 rupees.
Collection of more than 7000 rare coins
Talking to IANS about this hobby, Yusuf said, “So far there is a collection of more than 7000 rare coins, while I have two and a half thousand coins of about 200 countries and a collection of notes of 125 countries. Indian Notes All the notes that have come out so far in India, except a few, are present. While all those that have come out from the signature of the governor are there. Are included.”
Interesting story behind collecting coins
Actually there is a very interesting incident behind collecting coins. Yusuf’s elder brother was fond of collecting coins, from one of those coins Yusuf bought toffee. Yusuf’s brothers were so angry at this that they handed over their deposits to Yusuf. Since then, he is carrying forward the process of collecting coins with a responsibility and hobby.
Yusuf tells that, “In the 70s, my brother had a small box in which he used to keep coins. Yusuf got such a hobby of collecting coins that he started collecting them in a very different way. But I look at each side of the coin, wherever I go, I keep a close eye on the coins.”
The dedication of collecting coins is such that once Yusuf came out of the mosque after offering Namaz, he saw a five rupee coin in the fakir’s bowl which he did not have, when he saw it, he gave a 10 rupee note to the fakir and picked it up. .
Tourists have also collected a lot of coins from the spot. Yusuf has been collecting coins for 50 years. The situation has become such that after retiring from the job, Yusuf spends all his time in accumulating these coins more.
Actually Yusuf retired in 2019 from the post of Deputy Director Engineer in Doordarshan channel, after which he is giving all his time to deposit these coins. Yusuf now has so many mediums that any coin is rare anywhere in the collection of coins, his news reaches him and he buys it.
According to Yusuf, now this is his life support. “After retirement, if I didn’t do anything, I might have got sick but I spent all my time in collecting them. This is medicine for me and also my support to live. Apart from coins, I used to collect notes in the same way. Huh.”
However, Yusuf also pays the price for depositing these coins. More than 1 thousand people are associated with Yusuf, who give information about rare coins, while Yusuf also buys coins through dealers. Despite the collection of so many coins and notes, Yusuf is not satisfied. According to him, there are many people across the country who have more rare coins than me.
This hobby of Yusuf is also liked by his family members. Although Yusuf says that if my children want to continue with the collection of coins, they can. Apart from this, Yusuf also has a collection of postage stamps and old documents. Yusuf writes poetry, ghazals and stories in his spare time, has also participated in many poetry seminars and mushairas.