Kolkata notaphilist maps 2026 FIFA World Cup through currency
Times of India | 11 June 2026
KOLKATA: At a time when the FIFA World Cup is expanding its footballing map, Kolkata-based notaphilist Anindya Kar has built a paper trail of the tournament through currency.
Kar’s collection brings together bank notes representing all 48 participating countries of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, turning the expanded tournament into a compact archive of national identity, history, art and economy. For him, each note is more than a collector’s item; it is a cultural document carrying portraits, monuments, wildlife, scripts, symbols and political memory from nations that will appear on football’s biggest stage.
The 2026 edition is historic in several ways. For the first time, the World Cup is being hosted by three countries — the United States, Canada and Mexico. The only previous multi-nation hosting arrangement was in 2002, when South Korea and Japan jointly staged the tournament. The number of participating teams has also increased from 32 to 48, taking the total number of matches to 104.
The expanded structure has added a round of 32 before the later knockout stages. The eventual champion will now have to play eight matches instead of seven, making the road to the trophy longer and more demanding.
Kar’s collection mirrors that wider scale. Notes from football giants sit beside currencies from countries making rare or first appearances on the global football stage. The presence of nations such as Curaçao, Cape Verde, Uzbekistan and Jordan gives the collection added value, as their bank notes represent not only economies but also football milestones.
"A distinctive feature of the display is European countries that now use the euro. The euro was introduced in circulation on January 1, 2002. Among the 27 European Union countries, 21 currently use the euro. For the 12 euro-using countries in the World Cup, I have avoided routine euro notes and instead used earlier national currencies to give the collection an antique character," he said.
Belgium is represented by a 1943 original Belgian 100 Francs banknote, denominated as 20 Belgas, with intricate Second World War-era artwork and a watermark of King Leopold I. Germany is represented by a 20 Reichsmark note issued on January 22, 1929, during the Weimar Republic, featuring Werner von Siemens. The Netherlands is represented by a 25 Gulden note dated April 10, 1955, bearing the portrait of astronomer Christiaan Huygens.
Austria’s place in the display comes through a 1916 one Krone note with a “DEUTSCHÖSTERREICH” overprint, issued by the Austro-Hungarian Bank. Curaçao, one of the highlights of the collection, is represented by a one Gulden muntbiljet issued between 1942 and 1947, featuring Mercury and ships, and printed by the American Bank Note Company.
"The notes tell stories beyond the pitch. Some carry images of writers, engineers and monarchs; others show rivers, bridges, birds, architecture and national symbols. A Bosnia and Herzegovina 200 Convertible Mark note in Kar’s wider collection features Nobel Prize-winning author Ivo Andrić and the famous bridge on the Drina River," the notaphilist said.
For Kar, this is not a World Cup album of stickers, jerseys or tickets. It is a tournament told through money — a display where football meets geography, diplomacy, design and memory.