Dr Paul Stevens began his working career as a research scientist looking for new medicines; later he became a senior manager within a multinational company before taking early retirement in 2008 to concentrate on his numismatic interests.

Dr Stevens started collecting coins as a boy, encouraged by his grandfather, who had formed a good collection of English coins. During the 1970s his interest switched from English to Indian coins, particularly those produced by the British for use in India.  Later, this expanded to cover all ‘Indian’ coins, in the widest sense of the term, but mostly focusing on coins issued after the Islamic invasions.