Praful Thakkar (born February 25, 1940) is an Indian collector of

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

s, philately,

First Day Cover A first day of issue cover or first day cover (FDC) is a postage stamp on a cover, postal card or stamped envelope franked on the first day the issue is authorized for useBennett, Russell and Watson, James; ''Philatelic Terms Illustrated'', Stanl ...

s (FDCs),

coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

medals A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

, tokens,

badges A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fi ...

, badge plates and other collectibles from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He has written several books on his hobbies.

Education and career

Praful attended Gokuldas Tejpal High School,

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

. He was a General Secretary of the Students’ Union and

Co-operative Stores A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

run by the students. He later attended the Tatwagnan Vidyapeeth in

Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven taluk ...

, Maharashtra, an institute established by the founder of the Swadhyaya Movement, Pandurang Shashtri Athavle. Thakkar studied

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and

Western philosophy Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-Socratics. The word ' ...

. After graduation, he took part in various competitive examinations for government administrative assignments. He worked as an I.A.S. officer serving the Government of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

in various administrative capacities.

Books

Thakkar has published several books, including collector's guides in the areas of

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

, philately, and autographs. These include ''Collector's Guide to Indian Canteen Tokens'', ''Collector's Guide to Membership Badges of Turf & Race Clubs of India'', ''Collector's Guide to Chronologies of Sultans, Rulers & Colonial Heads of India'', ''Chapras: Collector's Guide to Belt Buckles, Badges and Badge Plates of India'', ''Collector's Guide to Covers & Folders of India 1947-1964 - Official & Private'', and ''Glimpses of Indian Autographs''. He has also written on

Indian culture Indian culture is the heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse India. The term al ...

, and translated

Sanskrit poetry Sanskrit literature broadly comprises all literature in the Sanskrit language. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as ...

Awards, prizes and media recognitions

# Felicitated in Sept. 2008 with Life Time Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to Indian

Numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

, at Indore in the 92nd Annual Conference of the Numismatic Society of India, Banaras (Varanasi) which includes the Numismatic Society of India

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

, the Indian Coin Society,

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

and the

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

chapter

INTACH The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with Unit ...

. # Awarded Life Time Achievement Award by Gujarat Coin Society, Ahmedabad at their Annual General Meeting in June 2009. # The last philately book ''Collector’s Guide to First Day Covers & Folders of India 1947-1964 Official & Private'' has received 6 awards in International Philatelic Exhibitions at

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

2010, Joberg 2010,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, Napex 2011,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

-USA, Chicagopex 2011,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

-USA, PhilaNippon 2011,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

- Japan and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

2012. # Received various Medals at Stamps of India National Exhibition,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

in 2010 & 2011 and Gujarat Philatelic Exhibition GUJPEX 2011 at

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

. # Received Trophy in the Exhibition organized by South Indian Philatelic & Numismatic Dealers Association at

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in 2006 for displaying Autographs of Presidents and Prime Ministers of India. # In 2011, Shree Lohana Maha Parishad, Ahmedabad has awarded him an International level ‘Vishisht Raghuvanshi Pratibha Award’ recognising and appreciating his vivid activities and hobbies. # Received Prizes for Exhibits of (A) Cash Coupons of

Indian Princely States A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to a ...

(B) Presentation Medals of Viceroys of India at the exhibitions organized by International Society of Collectors of Rare Items,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. # Received Trophies for Exhibits of (A) Commemorative Medals of Royal Visits of British Rulers to India (B) Indian Temperance Medals at the exhibitions organized by Gujarat Coin Society, Ahmedabad, the Numismatic Society of India, Varansi at

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...

2005 and at Money Mela 2008 organised by Indian Coin Society at

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

in September 2008. # ''Rainbow stamp blog club'' news highlighting Praful's achievements # ''Gullak Magazine'' coverage # Philately book was reviewed and welcome by following Philatelic Magazines of USA & UK. (a) '' Philatelic Literature Review'', Pennsylvania USA (b) ''FIRST DAYS''-Journal of the American

Society, USA (c) T''he Philatelic Communicator'', Journal of

American Philatelic Society The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting foundation of philately in the world. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide. History The organization, originally named the ''American Phi ...

, USA (d) ''

The London Philatelist ''The London Philatelist'' was first published in January 1892
by

Royal Philatelic Society London The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in its issue number 1386 of June 2011. # Website ''indianautographs.com'' has received 'World Web Award of Excellence' from Art Space 2000 in 2007. # ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

'' Ahmedabad Mirror - Token of Love # ''Greyhoundderby.com'' Race Club Badges # Autograph hobby interview on

ETv ETV may stand for: Television * e.tv, a South African terrestrial television channel * Educational Television (Hong Kong), a television series * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television ap ...

# Autograph exhibition coverage n ETv # Chapras collection interview on ETv # Her Excellency Gujarat Governor releasing the book - ''Glimpses of Indian Autographs''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thakkar, Praful 1940 births Living people Numismatic associations Philatelic collections Indian collectors Indian civil servants