Mutaz Osman owns so many stamps and coins he cannot even count them. The 41-year-old operations director of Sharjah Expo Centre, the centrepiece of a planned Expo City in the emirate, started his collection as a child. In 2000, he also started writing about his hobby and has since published four books (three in Arabic and one in English) on the subject – with two books focusing on coins and two on stamps. He reveals more about his collection, why he started to write about it and how he fits the hobby around his job:
When did you start collecting coins and stamps?
I started when I was 12 years old. At first I only collected stamps. There was a very good [stamp collecting] magazine at that time for kids called Majid. My father gave me my first stamps and encouraged me to collect them.
How many stamps and coins do you own?
So many I cannot count them. I own every single stamp which has been used in the UAE until today. I also have the first dirham, the Greek dirham. The word dirham came from the Greek word drachma. Before the UAE and Gulf countries were independent they were under the protection of Britain. I have rare stamps, [Queen Victoria’s] Golden Jubilee stamp, Indian stamps, British stamps, Greek stamps – I have them all.
How old is your oldest stamp?
It is very old, from King William [IV’s] time.
Why did you decide to write about your hobby?
To be honest I felt there was a gap in the market. There weren't any books that offered people guidance about it. I wanted to give them information. I wrote about when we started, how, which coins we started with and which stamps we used. I called my first book Emirates Stamp History. I didn't use United Arab Emirates in the title because I was talking about the period before the union.
What do readers learn from your books about the Emirates’ history?
The most significant period I talk about is the British-Indian time. The UAE didn’t have any currency or any stamps back then. At that time we sold the pearl to the Maharajah in India and they brought British and Indian rupees, which is why British-Indian coins were used here in the UAE.
How did you research your books?
I visited India more than 26 times. I have been to Bangalore, to Bombay and to England. I am also a board member of the Royal British Stamp Association.
Did you find it easy to get a publisher, or did you publish your books yourself?
I funded it all myself. Nobody supported me at all. The first book [cost me] Dh45,000, the second Dh67,000, the third one Dh37,000 and the recent one Dh56,000.
You say you haven’t sold many copies, so are you still happy you did it, despite the cost of publishing your books?
Yes, of course. I did it to show the younger generations where we have been and where we are now. Small stamps and small coins tell a huge story. Recently my book won the silver award in [an exhibition] in Taipei. It’s a very famous international stamp and coins collection exhibition.
What are you planning to do next?
I am going to have an exhibition in Ramadan. This will be the first time I will exhibit my stamps and coins in public.
What will be on display?
I have a lot of rare coins and very rare [letters] from the British queen to the governor in the GCC countries. There was a union between Qatar and Dubai. They had their own currency in August 1966. Today it is very rare and very expensive, especially the notes. You can find the coins but the notes are very expensive. If they are in a good condition they can cost Dh150,000. If you collect all Dh5, Dh10 and Dh100 it might cost you Dh200,000.
Where do you store all your coins?
Some of them are in the bank, especially the rare ones from Greece and the Golden [Jubilee] one. But the rest are at home.
Do you know how much your coin and stamp collection is worth?
No, because it is like my baby. I would never sell it.
How do you find the time, around your full-time job, to work on your hobby and books?
I spend two or three hours on it every night. I have a small room with all my books and research and I sit there to write. It is a good stress reliever.
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