Cash Stash

I was born a collector,” says Abdo Ayoub, the man who has put together the world’s largest collection of Lebanese Lira notes. Since 1985 the former Sleep Comfort co-owner has collected more than 500,000 individual banknotes, all issued as legal tender in Lebanon between 1920 and the present day. As a youngster he hoarded his weekly Tintin newspaper comics before moving onto stamps, filling some 800 albums. Ayoub also holds one of just 23 complete Michelin Guide collections, dating back to 1900 and including an ultra rare edition issued by US military intelligence in 1939. The last full collection sold for 60,000 euros. Valuing Ayoub’s cash cache would be a mammoth task, but with some of his more rare notes worth more than $15,000 alone, the figure is likely to be staggering. This decidedly Lebanese collection comes from surprisingly cosmopolitan sources, including archives at the Banque du France, auction houses