character column and '

I remember from SLQ/DS 1.1.5 that it was possible to select data from a char column, that kept only digits, to say :
select * from table where col=123456
after that this was removed, to keep a kind of standard
char col : col='123456'
num col : col=123

in 9.5fp8 db2 ese on linux this again is allowed

(0)[db2inst1@dlx00003 DEV]$ db2 "select ssin,newfirst,newfirst2,newfirst3,newname from register.new_name_info where ssin =89071742513 "

SSIN NEWFIRST NEWFIRST2 NEWFIRST3 NEWNAME
----------- ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------
xxxx (not displayed for privacy)
1 record(s) selected.

(0)[db2inst1@dlx00003 DEV]$ db2 "select ssin,newfirst,newfirst2,newfirst3,newname from register.new_name_info where ssin ='89071742513' "
same row is displayed
is this correct as it should be ?