Antique Dealer

My name is Manish Golecha; I am currently in my third year of my BCom programme at R A Podar College of Commerce and Economics. I have an online shop on eBay India where I trade old coins and currencies under the name Adiman Antiques as a numismatist.
After my ICSE exams, I was going through some financial instability. This urged me to make use of whatever knowledge and potential I had and support my family. I was waiting for an opportunity for quite long, and I have tried making the best of it and never really looked back. I started around five years ago, selling mp3 players and later on accelerated spectacles. Most of my products were shipped abroad. There were obviously a lot of sacrifices I had to make on my way. There were situations where I had to choose between my classes and trading. My trading gradually increased and then I finally wanted to do something more substantial. So, I thought of trading on eBay. It was just after junior college when I completely shifted to coins and currency. I’ve been trading in old coins and antiques for the past four years now. Today, I am a silver-level power seller, making around one lakh per month.
I remember an incident which proved to be a stepping stone. When I started coins and currency I only had three thousand rupees with me. I went to a place guided by my friend at CST and purchased a few currency notes and immediately signed up for a contract. To my shock, on delivery, I was charged with supplying fake notes. I received a call from the Nasik police station and was charged for false reasons. I decided to thoroughly study about coins and currency. I learnt how to recognise rarities and misprints and I excelled in the subject. This is the main reason why my business has been a success.
The field is so vast that study never ends. It has already turned me crazy! Once, on a vacation with friends in Goa, I dragged them along to the markets to see if could lay my hands on something I could sell. We made a journey of 40km, all in vain. That day, I realised that this was really a passion for me.
Twice a year, I hold exhibitions at The World Trade Centre, Mumbai. These occur normally in the month of April and later on in September. Most of my customers are collectors who love collecting old coins and a few dealers. They are both Indian and foreign collectors. I also import currencies from Cambodia, Pakistan, Nepal, Belarus, and Burundi and sell it in India. There’s also a market for coins. Certain coins have values, which may fluctuate like shares. For instance, a coin may cost Rs. 500 at one time and sometimes also Rs. 150 at another. The rarity is the essence of the coin. It does not depend on the age but how rare the coin is and the quantity minted. Duplication of the coins is also very easy, so one needs to be careful.
Today, I am really glad that this hobby has now turned into a part-time business. This gives me complete freedom and makes me financially independent. I can cater to all my expenses like shopping, fees and outings. I have also learnt other invaluable lessons that a classroom cannot teach, such as understanding value for money, honesty, punctuality and people you deal with; this makes my parents proud. Once you enter into any business you tend to become more responsible, practical and logical. You are mature enough to take your own decisions. Earlier, I was just doing it to earn money and support my family; as my scope widened, I was more interested to learn more about the process of trading rare coins and notes rather than earning from it. I enjoyed doing it more also because a thirst to learn developed in me.
This learning inspires me to strive higher towards my goals and achieve my dreams. These dreams just cannot be achieved easily; you need to constantly strive to make them happen. When I entered as a fresher, I didn’t know that this market had a wide scope. There is so much to learn in this field, it takes years to make a concrete impact. Knowledge, logical ability, practicability and sharpness are the qualities that you require to become better. So I can say that I learn and earn at the same time. To sum it up, opportunities are many, grab the right one and make it worth the effort.
For the future, I’m planning to pursue an MA in Numismatist offered by University on Mumbai, Kalina, and continue my learning in this field.

1. BANGLADESHI 5-TAKA BUNDLE
2. 10-RUPEE GEORGE VI PAKISTAN OVERPRINT NOTE, PRINTED DURING PARTITION
3. BRITISH INDIA GEORGE VI 2-RUPEE NOTE
4. COMMEMORATIVE 100-RUPEE COIN
5. SHAH ALAM II MUGHAL COIN

Volume 1 Issue 12