Rs 2000 note with lucky number available online, at a premium

Here is another side of the craze for currency. While there are long queues all around for the newly launched notes, the pink-coloured Rs 2000 currency bearing the holy number 786 is up for sale on e-commerce websites.

Available at a premium — as high as Rs 2 lakh — such unique notes are much in demand among numismatists.

Garnering around 170 views per hour, the advertisement of a ‘new note of Rs 2000 ending with 786’ is perhaps the most viewed advertisement on ebay.in, a popular e-commerce website.

Interestingly, the sites are also flooded with advertisements for demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. Depending on the uniqueness in numbers on the note they are being sold at a price ranging from Rs 5000 to Rs 1 crore.

An advertisement, updated on November 14, 2016 (after the bigger currency notes got banned), states— ‘500Rs rare note’ and its cost is 10,000,000 Rs. The note bears the numbers of 786 series and was issued in 2016 itself.

“It is the best time for small note collectors to display their collection of the banned denominations with rarities to make fast money,” insisted a numismatist.

The information available on the site claims that the new currency note or other new, unused and undamaged items, can be sent anywhere in the country.

And with the site offering various payment modes – credit card, debit card and online bank transfer— the prospective buyers need not worry about the cash crisis.

Another advertisement from a Haryana-based note collector talks about ‘Indian 2000Rs note with serial number 370004.’

While the cost of the note has been stated as Rs 5500, the advertisement is getting 99 views per hour on the website.

“Though it is too early to get such advertisements, the sellers might still end up doing brisk business as the currency note collectors are always hungry for such notes.

“And since this currency is new, the chances of the sale are high,” opined Kishore Jhunjhunwala, one of the biggest note collectors of the country, who has the rare collection of notes from 1770 AD onwards. He has also authored four books on the passion of collecting note.

“Currency notes or even phone numbers, ending or starting with 786 numbers have always fascinated individuals. Of these, there are many who collect notes as passion while some do it as time pass and also sell their collection on certain occasions. I think, when currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination are banned, it is high time for the small numismatics to sell off their collection of notes bearing 786 or some other rarity to make fast money. There are many who buy such collections,” said Shubham Gupta, a numismatic from Bareilly.

Read more: Myth vs reality: 6 things that the govt wants you to know about demonetisation