Inside Dubai’s hidden memory museum

To say I was surprised would be putting it mildly. I’ve visited a fair number of coin and currency exhibits and museums, but I completely flipped over this one in Dubai.

How often do you come across a coin that celebrates one of the most iconic tales from Arabian Nights, of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves? Struck in pure silver, it features the legendary scene where Ali Baba overhears the thieves visiting the secret cave where their treasure is hidden. It’s legal tender in Niue, a small island nation in the South Pacific, and one of just 3,000 ever minted.

Then there’s a gold coin engraved with none other than Michael Schumacher, commemorating the legendary F1 driver’s track triumphs. You’ll also find coins featuring beloved characters like Cinderella, Superman and Batman. There’s even an adorable one of Winnie the Pooh. All legal tender. There are even coins shaped like keys, axe heads, plates, and rough metal fragments.

The museum in Dubai houses over a tonne of coins — some dating back to 2 BC — from nearly every nation in the world. The museum is also home to rare stamps, pens, precious stones and carpets, but more on that later.

Enter the majestic villa in Dubai’s Nad Al Sheba, and you will be stepping into a world of ancient civilisations, bygone countries, and untold stories. All meticulously catalogued in the private collection of one man: Ram Tolani.

A successful businessman, financial expert, author and speaker, Ram’s penchant for collecting began in 2008 following a stroke he suffered on the eve of his daughter’s wedding. “I was so overjoyed that I guess the massive surge in emotions triggered the stroke,” he tells me when we meet in the majlis of his house.

This health scare forced the Dubai-based business magnate to step back from his insurance enterprise.

“Unable to do much work immediately after surgeries and physiotherapy, I felt a deep void in my life,” recalls the septuagenarian who thrives on being busy at all times. While recovering and during a conversation with his son Sanjay, he shared his childhood memories, and his love for collecting coins.

Sanjay reignited in his father the childhood passion that would not only aid Ram’s rehabilitation but also redefine his legacy. During a visit to his father’s ancestral home in India, Sanjay discovered a small tin of coins that Ram had left behind when he had moved to Dubai more than half a century ago. Among them was a coin that dated back to Emperor Akbar’s time - Ram’s first brush with Mughal grandeur. “There was a certain magic in holding it,” Ram recalls. “Even as a child, I knew this was more than metal.”

With time now on his side, Ram immersed himself in the world of numismatics, transforming a youthful interest into a profound vocation.

To start with he began participating in auctions with Sanjay, who now manages the insurance business and has expanded it several fold. “One of the first coins Sanjay got for me was from the Perth Mint, which was marking its centenary,” Ram recalls. He points to another coin from Australia — a 1kg limited-edition silver coin engraved with a kookaburra, that he also sourced from Down Under.

Singapore provided him with more pieces for his collection when he attended an auction there and acquired a set of Chinese coins in gold and silver, each featuring zodiac symbols.

In just over a year, Ram’s dedication saw his collection register ringing with over 250,000 coins and 60,000 currency notes. Among his cherished acquisitions are those that span centuries and continents, featuring coins from the Mughal era, ancient Mohenjo-daro, and colonial currencies from Indonesia and India. He points to one of his notable collections — a 260-gram gold coin of late Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father of the UAE. “This is a rare coin and I am truly honoured to have it in my collection,” he says.

As he leads me around the museum Ram points to another of his favourite pieces, the diamond wedding anniversary coin of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. Close to this coin are several from the UK marking various milestones of the nation, and highlighting historic individuals.

A little away sits a punch-marked coin that dates to 2-3 BCE. These are coins that were used before formal minting began, he says.. There are also coins from the reign of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. “Holding them,” he says, “is humbling. It shifts your perspective. You realise how transient life is, and how long civilisations last. Empires rise and fall, but a coin endures.”

There are also ancient Chinese coins in the shape of a knife, fork, sword, and key. “They were used in barter in China,” he says, unlocking a window into history.

Fast forward to the present, Ram has a spectacular collection of coins of the UAE and the Arab countries, including an Expo 2020 coin that takes pride of place in his display for the region. “I have at least a tonne of coins, many of them yet to be put on display,” he says.

As for currency notes, there are individual ones and bundles from just about every country in the world. And some from countries that no longer exist in the strict sense of the term. He shows me an A4 size currency note that dates back to the Ming dynasty. “It’s very unusual — it has a piece of thread attached to it. An expert estimated its value at a million dollars now,” says Ram, showing us around the China room at the museum.

Where does he find these rare coins and currency notes? “Auctions, for one,’’ says Ram. “But they are not the only sources; friends sometimes gift me such notes and coins.”

One evening, while his wife, Seema was undergoing knee replacement surgery at the American Hospital, a chance conversation with her German doctor took a surprising turn. “Ram,” said the surgeon, “I have something for you.” It wasn’t a prescription or a medical file but a silver coin, passed down through generations in the doctor’s family. “This belongs to you now,” he said, pressing the coin into Ram’s hand. “Quite often, friends and acquaintances give me coins and notes that they think are valuable,” says Ram.

Visitors are requested to skip gifting him sweets when visiting his home. “If you want to bring something, bring me a coin or a note that you might have from your travels. That’s what makes me happy, is what I tell guests planning a visit,” he says, with a laugh.

And people respond. “A police captain once called me and said he had a box of currency notes just lying around. I said, ‘Come for dinner.’ He came with his wife and presented me with the box which contained 50 crumpled old notes.”

One room in his house is marked United Nations and has currency notes from almost every country in the world, including some that replaced their national currencies with the Euro, such as Austria, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. The French franc, for instance, is not just rare but a beauty to behold. “French notes are like paintings,” he admits.

Apart from old and valuable notes, Ram also collects UNCs — uncirculated notes, fresh from the mint.

“It took me six months to get one uncirculated one-dirham note,” he says. “I paid 100 dirhams for it. I thought what if I could get a full bundle? A hundred uncirculated notes. That’s rare. That’s legacy. So I went to banks, money changers, friends travelling abroad. Today, I have around 150 UNC bundles from all over the world.”

Ram has two notes from India that are truly fascinating: the serial number of one matches his date of birth, while that of the other is of his wife’s birth date. “It’s another prized possession,” he says.

Ram’s collection isn’t static; it’s constantly evolving. And apart from coins and currency notes, he also collects rare fountain pens, precious stones, stamps and more. He leads me by hand to a room on the first floor of the museum where he has displayed some of the most valuable pens. “Some of these pens are worth thousands of dollars in the auction market,” he says.

The tour over, we make our way down to the hall of his house where taking centre stage is a resplendent carpet mounted in a display case leaning against the wall. “It has been woven with pure gold zari,” says Ram. “Sanjay bought it from a Christie’s auction some 12 years ago. It is worth more than $1 million now.”

Private Museum, public purpose

Though his collection is housed privately, its purpose is public. “Anyone can visit this museum,” he says. “I particularly like for school children to come and visit so they get to see a slice of history.”

The museum is a magnet for collectors, historians, and the merely curious, even as traders estimate his collection to be valued over $50 million. But for Tolani, it’s not about the money. “This is not an investment. It’s not even a hobby anymore. It’s my identity.” And what of the future? “I hope this collection lives beyond me,” he says. “I hope it continues to teach, to inspire.”

To schedule a visit to Ram Tolani’s museum, call or whatsapp 050 452 3937.