KARACHI: Though it would be hard to dispute that the number of philatelists (stamp collectors) and numismatists (coin and banknote collectors) in Pakistan is decreasing by the minute, a handful of individuals still value such activities, trying hard to impress others to follow suit. Rafiq Kasbati is one such man. He is an award-winning collector who has been collecting and displaying a variety of items for more than six decades.

A recent feather in Mr Kasbati’s cap is his collection of Saudi Arabian notes which he has been collecting since the early 1950s. The notes are on display at the State Bank Museum to commemorate the Saudi Arabia National Day (Sept 23).

Talking to Dawn Mr Kasbati said: “I have the complete collection ranging from the ‘Haj notes’ printed in 1952 in 10, 5 and 1 riyal denomination to the ones that were printed in 2012. I also have those currency bills which had defects. There’s one note on which ‘naqadah’ is written instead ‘naqad’. These are really valuable ones. Then in a 500 riyal bill ‘khumusa’ is printed instead of ‘khamosa’.”

Mr Kasbati has a huge collection of different currencies, including almost all that has been printed in Pakistan. Apart from that, he is an avid philatelist having won awards in such far-off places as Australia for stamp collection.

“It all began when I went to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj in the 1950s. There I started taking interest in the letters that people used to write to the muallims. I would request the muallims to give those letters to me. From there on the hobby turned into passion.

“I have penned quite a few books on the subject, including a book on Pakistani coins and notes,” he said with a fair degree of pride.

However, over the years collectors have either moved away from the spotlight or they’re not given due attention. “The hobby (philately) has become an expensive undertaking. You have to think twice before buying a collectible item. Besides, we live in a society that doesn’t attach importance to these things. Take, for example, the Sindh Dak posts first issued in 1852. After partition they were taken to India. Recently one of those tickets was auctioned for 14,000 euros in the international market. It is sad, because had we kept those in Pakistan, it would have been great for us,” lamented Mr Kasbati.

The philatelist has a point. But in this day and age where every second day a new smartphone dazzles the whole world, people like Mr Kasbati may remain unsung heroes.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2014