PERAMBALUR: IT isn't unusual to see a farmer collecting magazine articles or newspaper clippings on best farm practices. But, R Manickam (55) of Aranarai village in Perambalur district surprises you with his hobbies of over three decades --notaphily and numismatics.
Apart from cultivating groundnuts on his one-acre land, he has been nurturing his love for old currency notes and coins from various countries. Manickam says he has a collection of 250 old currency notes from over 50 countries such as India, Malaysia, USA, Singapore, Canada, Thailand, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, Japan and China and hundreds of coins.
Talking to TNIE, he says, "I went to Saudi Arabia in 1986 and worked as a driver. I could not get sufficient income and also worked as a labourer in a garden. The owner of the garden was into notaphily and introduced me to it. He also offered me some old currency notes, which was the beginning of my collection.
Manickam says he was initially not interested in notaphily. However, he slowly developed an interest while working in Saudi Arabia and then in Malaysia.
"I came to India in 1996. But, my hobby grew several fold. I used to attend currency note and coin exhibitions in Salem, Tiruchy and Coimbatore and used to get whatever I could for my collections. I get excited by just looking at my collection, and have also introduced this hobby to my son and family members. I went on a tour to Thailand and Singapore, from where I added more notes and coins to
my collection. I request the government to set up exhibitions to create awareness of notaphily and numismatics in every district. A visit to such exhibitions will be a learning experience for the future generation," Manickam says.
When pointed out at some suspicious-looking coins in his collection, he says, "I will call on an expert in this field and weed out all the fakes. I want my collection to be 100 per cent genuine."