As the morning news showed the troubles brewing in Bangladesh and the violence that was erupting in the country, receiving a WhatsApp text asking about the relevance of three 10-rupee notes with different serial numbers, one got acquainted with Anindya Kar, a notaphilist who has ardently kept his passion alive of collecting all sorts of bank notes from every nook and corner of the world for more than 50 years now. Wondering what those three 10 rupee notes stood for? The last two digits of each note marked the birth year of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the second one noted down the year when Bangladesh gained its freedom, while the third one marked the year when Sheikh Mujibur was assassinated.

Anindya Kar, a retired senior personnel of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC Ltd.), had been collecting notes since his college years, when he was 20-21. It started with him coming across a few antique British notes that he had descried in his father’s trunk, introducing him to the world of rare, priceless currency notes, which would later turn him into a proud collector of more than 1,000 notes from over 22 countries from all around the world. While talking to The Statesman, he shared stories about not just his collection, which are his prized possessions, but also the hardships he faced while collecting a few rare notes, along with insights on the rich history linked with each and every note.

Being a proud notaphily, he stated, “Usually when you have friends visiting some other country, we ask them to bring back perfumes, chocolates or a memoir, but for me, it was always requesting them to bring back notes from that country. After my retirement in 2013, it was my son who encouraged me to actually showcase my huge note collection. I used to spend hours organising my notes, which included ‘commemorative notes’ to ’normal currency notes’, ‘Nobel laureate currencies’, ‘private currency notes’, ‘Disneyland currency collection’, ‘Unesco World Heritage site currency notes’, and much more.”

Not just a note collector, Anindya Kar takes part in various exhibitions to enrich the minds of the younger generation and help them gain knowledge about diverse countries, their relation with the nation, the importance of past notes and the challenges that come with the collection and preservation of such currencies. Not just friends, he avidly collects notes from international banknote collectors and has taken part in auctions, but not without a challenge. “Almost two years ago, I wanted to collect the largest note of Malaysia, 600 Malaysia Ringgit; however, that was a challenge in itself because the person I was trying to collect it from had constantly tried to demoralise and mislead me. It was my friend living in Malaysia who had ultimately helped me procure and add it to my collection. Only 60,000 such notes have been printed, so in the world of currency collectors, getting your hand on such a note is a big step, and I wanted to be among those 60,000 people.”

The spirited note collector was eager to talk about his collection, which constituted an Ottoman dynasty note, a 10 Kurus note of 1877. These notes had remained in circulation till 1927. A few other currency notes that grace his collection are the Indian currency notes that were used during the British rule, including the first one-rupee note printed in 1917 having the photo of George V. The oldest note in his collection includes a 1792 French Revolution note along with a note of the East African Currency Board of 1949, which was printed in Nairobi. He is also the proud collector of Zimbabwe’s highest valuation note, a 100 trillion dollar note that was printed in 2017. His currency treasure includes the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) winner note series, which started in 2004 with Canada and ended with Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s $2 commemorative banknote, which was the winner in 2023.

Moreover, his collection boasts of banknotes that feature eminent personalities who shaped human society with their creativity, thinking, innovation, and leadership, including currency notes featuring William Shakespeare, Galileo, Newton, Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo da Vinci, Florence Nightingale and many others.

With such a divergent collection, contented and filled with pride, he says, “While all of them are my prized possession, collected with a lot of hard work, the ‘Nobel Laureate’ collection is my favourite, which consists of 40 notes. This collection has actually helped me delve into each notable personality and learn a lot more. So along with collecting notes, I was feeding my mind too with knowledge.”