A numismatist and a law enforcer

MUMBAI: For those who are aware of this police constable’s hobby, it comes as no surprise that several policemen and their families and many others are drawn to his nondescript house.

Umesh Balkrishna Kadav, 44-year-old police constable, collects antique coins and currency notes. This resident of BDD Chawl in Worli keeps his collection in his 180-square-feet apartment that also houses four members of his family.

“I started collecting coins and notes when I was 14. I had developed a liking for history. Coins and notes, their designs etc fascinated me. Therefore, whenever I got any money, I kept collecting them, while my siblings spent the money the way they liked,” says Kadav, who is with the Gamdevi police station in South Mumbai.

Whenever Kadav visits any other state or a city on work, he makes sure that he finds time to visit the nearest coin museum or coin sellers and find the coins and notes that are not in his collection.

Kadav, a son of a constable, studied in a night school in Worli because his father could not afford to send him to a regular school. He, however, never let that deter him from pursuing his hobby and now, wherever he goes, his eyes are on notes and coins.

“I have a collection ranging from one paisa to ₹100 notes from the post-independence era. I have collected currency notes and coins as and when they were launched by the Central Bank — the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). I have notes and coins date wise as well as denomination wise. I couldn’t collect higher denomination notes like ₹500 onwards as it involves a lot of investment,” says Kadav.

Kadav, however, is still short of some notes in his date-wise collection and is making all efforts to get them.

“I have more than 2,500 coins and 600 currency notes in my collection. Getting antique notes and coins also involves a lot of investment, which I am unable to make as people, who have them demand a lot of money. I visit museums and coin fares to get whatever is missing.

“Earlier, there were several people, who used to sit along DN Road in Fort selling coins. Now the number of stalls has come down. However, whatever they had, I have collected from them and now, I have very few missing in my collection,” says Kadav, who has several 786 serial number notes also in his collection, which are usually prized by collectors and are considered holy or lucky.

Kadav says that our currencies give us knowledge about history, culture, political situations, and economic conditions of the country and says a lot about the time they were minted or printed.

“Earlier, coins were made of gold, later silver, brass, copper, nickel, aluminum alloys and then steel. As and when the cost of metals go up, we shift to the lowest costing metals,” says Kadav.

“Seeing my coin collection several people get nostalgic and remember their childhood days,” he says with a hint of pride.

Kadav’s wife Poonam, his two daughters Tanishqa and Sanykuta, help him maintain his collection.

Tanishqa says, “The coins need to be cleaned regularly as they can gather dust and rust while the notes are well laminated and kept in folders. They also need to be maintained regularly. I like my father’s collection a lot and my sister and I keep fighting over who will get to keep the collection.”

Shashikant Yadav, acting senior police inspector of Gamdevi police station said, “Maintaining such a collection, while doing a busy and stressful job as a policeman, is a real challenge and I am happy that Kadav has kept his hobby intact. It involves lot of effort to maintain and collect rare coins and I appreciate his work.”

Kadav, who has completed 26-years of service has worked with Local Arms, Protection and Security branch of the Mumbai Police, N M Joshi Marg police station and is presently with the Gamdevi police station.

In his collection, Kadav has coins minted in Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Noida. He says his work was appreciated by Arup Patnaik, former police commissioner.

Kadav, who is from Miraj in Sangli district, has kept a part of his collection in his village home. “As my house in Mumbai is small, I have kept some coins and notes in my village house. Whenever I open the bags, I feel reinvigorated,” says Kadav.

Kadav says his collection teaches children about Indian culture, architecture, monuments and historical aspects.

“I am happy that my daughters are also interested in my hobby, and I hope they just keep the good work going,” says Kadav.