Numismatic Exhibition, USA News: When relatives returned from abroad, a young Asaduzzaman, now 42 years old, would ask them for coins and banknotes. Sometimes they brought airline tickets or phonecards. He kept those too.
Studies interrupted the hobby after his secondary school examinations in 2000. For the next 12 years, collecting took a back seat. When he returned in 2012, he wanted to do more than keep whatever came his way. He began trying to complete sets from individual countries.
Today, the industrial tyre businessman says he owns around 10,000 banknotes.
"If I had simply been asked to read these things in a history book, I might not have read them," Asaduzzaman told The Business Standard.
"But when I want to collect a note, I need to know."
Some of those notes were displayed at the sixth BNCS Numismatic Exhibition, held from 29 to 31 October. Organised by the Bangladesh Numismatic Collectors' Society and presented by Jamuna Bank PLC, the event took place on Level 12 of the MIDAS Centre in Dhanmondi. It was open daily from 10am to 8pm.
On the final day, adults and children leaned over glass cases. Some held phones close to the displays. Inside were objects that took them from British India to modern Bangladesh, from Caribbean islands to states that no longer exist.
A small skateboard was among the more unexpected exhibits. It had wheels and a metal body, but belonged to Md Robiul Islam's collection of unusual and multicoloured coins.
Nearby were coins shaped like bottle caps, carrying Coca Cola, Sprite and Fanta logos. Others resembled a heart, the Rolling Stones' tongue logo and a map of Australia. The familiar round coin was only one possibility.
A large Burundi banknote offered another surprise. An elephant stood at its centre, surrounded by a giraffe, buffalo, lion, leopard and rhinoceros. The 10,000 franc note carried a reference to the international convention governing trade in endangered species.
Elsewhere, a 1,000 kronen note dated 1902 recalled the Austro Hungarian Empire. Another display brought together notes from Sarawak, Palestine, Rhodesia and Portuguese India. Their names, portraits and issuing authorities hinted at the political worlds in which they had circulated.
Closer to home, Shadmanul Bari's collection traced 100 rupee and taka notes from Pakistan to Bangladesh between 1947 and 1974. Pakistani notes bearing Muhammad Ali Jinnah's portrait appeared alongside early Bangladeshi notes featuring the country's map and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Other cases showed changes to Bangladesh's 20, 50 and 100 taka notes. Mosques, Parliament, the National Martyrs' Memorial and Ahsan Manzil appeared across different issues.
For Asaduzzaman, understanding such changes is part of collecting. Before buying a note, he studies its background. That knowledge helps him judge its price.
Withdrawal from circulation can also give a note a different kind of value.
"It will no longer be printed," he told The Business Standard. "Its value to a collector can rise."
The exhibition showed how collectors follow different interests.
Wasim Iqbal Sajid displayed banknotes depicting mosques, including Saudi notes showing the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah. Mohammad Abdur Rahim explored lettering and calligraphy. Himel Mark Rozario arranged coins representing the 50 US states on a map.
Another display grouped banknotes around wars and revolutions, including the Haitian Revolution and naval battles.
Mosharaff Hossain focused on specimen notes. These carried identifying markings, sometimes with "SPECIMEN" printed prominently in red. Some older examples had holes punched through them. Hossain said he owned specimens from around 40 countries. Roughly 20 to 22 were represented in his display.
Like Asaduzzaman, he began collecting as a child. His first interest was stamps. Banknotes gradually became more attractive, and small purchases over many years grew into a substantial collection.
"However many notes I own, I cannot display them all," Hossain told The Business Standard. "Space is limited."
A technician working in optical fibre cable networking, Hossain has lived in Singapore for about 15 years. He combined a family holiday with participation in the exhibition.
He pointed to six specimen notes from Bermuda, with denominations ranging from one to 100 dollars. The set had cost him 200 Singapore dollars, he said. Older specimens can require a longer search through collectors and specialist dealers.
Asaduzzaman found it harder to put one note above another. Asked for his favourite, he compared it to asking parents which child they preferred.
"Every banknote has its own beauty," he told The Business Standard.
Across the room, that variety was visible. A familiar taka note could bring back memories. A foreign note could raise questions about a country's past. A miniature skateboard could make someone look twice before recognising it as money.
