Credit: Special arrangement
Businessman Rezwan Razack from Bengaluru has been inducted into the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) Hall of Fame for his contribution to preserving the history of Indian paper money. He is the first Asian to receive this honour, regarded as the highest in the world of numismatics.
His friends and fellow collectors gathered at a function in the city last week to celebrate the milestone.
Razack, co-founder and joint managing director of Prestige Group, says his collection includes notes from every Indian paper money ever issued, except one from the Union Bank. A prized possession is the first Indian paper currency, issued by the Bank of Bengal in September 1812. Also in his archive are paper tokens printed during wartime metal shortages, currency given to Prisoners of War during World Wars I and II and the 1971 India-Pakistan war, Indian bills issued by French and Portuguese colonisers, Rs 10,000 notes from the 1800s and related artefacts.
At the event, he said that Indian currency tells the saga of empires rising and falling, majestic monarchs, the quiet strength of Mahatma Gandhi, and the spirit of innovation.
The 70-year-old’s fascination with currency began in class 7, when his grandfather brought home a cloth bag full of RBI-issued currency with ‘Pakistan Notes Payment Refused’ stamped on them. Later, he spotted his uncle sorting through old bank notes, among which was a fascinating denomination ‘Rupees Two Annas Eight’.
He began visiting libraries to learn about Indian currency, and old notes started coming his way, gifted by family, acquaintances, and even printers from Mysuru to Nashik. His passion was so widely known that former RBI governor Y V Reddy gifted him a frame of six autographed notes of different denominations.
He has amassed nearly 4,000 collectible notes, and one sample from each set is on display at the Rezwan Razack’s Museum of Indian Paper Money on Brunton Road. Razack has authored two books and contributed mutiple journal articles on numismatics.
Razack devotes 3-4 hours daily to reading, studying, and researching numismatics. “There’s still so much we don’t know,” he says.