Mumbai: “When the Morarji Desai government discontinued the Rs 5,000 note, people, who couldn’t officially present it to the bank, rolled tobacco into it and smoked it,” said Malcolm Todywalla, holding up the rare note which was auctioned for Rs 6 lakhs at the Todywalla Auction on Saturday evening.

“The Rs 5,000 note was introduced in 1954, and demonetised in 1978, was estimated to fetch Rs1.3 lakh at the auction, but the results have surprised us all,” Todywalla added.

He wasn’t the only one. Of the 300 people gathered at the packed Sunderbhai Hall, there were many bids for the rare note. But finally, it was an anonymous bidder, who was transacting over telephone, who walked away with the big note.

Rustom Ministry, one of the disappointed bidders, said: “The note is really rare. I came to the auction just to try and get hold of it. I put in a bid for Rs2 lakh, but someone else outbid me.”

According to organiser, Farookh Todywalla, the auction put up 322 lots of coins, bank notes, autographed photos and medals. The participants, who showed a lot of enthusiasm when the auction began, became quieter after a while. It was only when a coin from the era of Mughal emperor Jehangir, and the much-coveted Rs5,000 RBI note came up, that the enthusiasm returned.

Todywalla added: “These were the two highlights of the evening, and I am happy to say we got the desired response. It is very rare to own a Rs5,000 note, which is why we received such high bids for it. As for the Jehangir-era coin, it is still in great condition.” The coin, which has zodiac signs etched on it, went for Rs 79,000, although it was estimated at around Rs 30,000.

Among other auctioned items were an autographed photo of Subhash Chandra Bose and a letter handwritten by him while he was in jail in 1924; an autographed photo of Tenzing Norgay, who was the first man to climb Mount Everest along with New Zealander Edmund Hillary, coins from Jehangir’s time and the Rs5000 rupee note which was signed by then-RBI governor, HVR Iyengar.

Source : DNA