In the year 1917, the British introduced a currency note of Rs 2 and 8 annas. Almost a century on, it has become one of the rarest notes in the world, for few countries, if any, have ever minted currency of amounts that are not round figures.

The note is now part of the collection of Delhi Coin Society (DCS), which over the years has built up an impressive collection of coins, currency notes and medals. The Rs 2-and-8-anna-note, a prized possession of DCS founder Goga Jain, is today said to be valued at Rs 2.5 lakh.

Formed in 1996, the club now has 300 members, and almost each has a unique collection. So while DCS’s president, Arvind Chandra, has a huge collection of Mughal coins, vice-president Jyoti Rai ‘specialises’ in Sikh coins. Brothers Rishi and Sumit Chandiok, meanwhile, have developed a passion for the latest fad to hit numismatics: collection of currency notes with “fancy numbers”.

The Chandioks, who are into the designing and printing business, describe these as notes with unique serial numbers: such as “676767”, “111111” or such. The two say they started their collection 15 years ago, when it was a hobby less taken, but has picked up in the last few years. Now, Rishi says, the hobby has become a “very expensive” proposition.

“In our collections, we have polymer notes from different countries as well,” he says.

Oldest coins in DCS’s collections belong to the 5th Century BC — small in size, they have animal motifs and are not as expensive as gold coins of Emperor Akbar that fetch up to Rs 30,000 today.