TEMECULA: There's gold in them thar' coins

As the economy stays soft, more people cashing in collections

By JOHN HUNNEMAN - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 2, 2008 5:09 PM PDT ∞

TEMECULA ---- Chris Man was hoping he would strike gold, or at least silver.

The Riverside man recently walked into Temecula's only coin shop, pulled a silver dollar coin from his wallet, handed it to shop owner Morris Minsberg and waited for an assessment.

"It's been in my family," Man said hesitantly. "It's been passed down from friends."

Finally, with a laugh, he 'fessed up.

"To tell you the truth, I won it in a poker game," Man said. "I just wanted to see what it might be worth."

As it turned out, the 1890 silver dollar wasn't worth much as a collectible.

"But because of the silver content, we're paying about $12 apiece for these right now," Minsberg said.

Man decided to keep his coin.

"To some people, $12 is a lot of money right now," Minsberg said. "For others, it's not so much."

As the U.S. economy sputters and gas prices remain high, all while precious metals such as gold and silver trade at some of their highest levels in history, Minsberg has seen increased traffic at his small shop, All Valley Coin and Jewelry, on Old Town Front Street in Temecula.

"Each day, five or 10 people will come in with coins or their coin collections," Minsberg said. "That's gone up recently as the economy has turned soft."

A family business

Minsberg, 33, has operated his shop in Old Town for about four years.

"It's a family business," he said. "My father had a coin shop in Simi Valley for more than 20 years."

On any given day, the chatter inside the business runs the gamut from the International Monetary Fund to the loose change in your pocket.

"In an election year, the government likes to keep the price of commodities low, making the dollar stronger and making the politicians look better," Minsberg opines to a customer who brought in a gold coin for appraisal. "If you can hold off a couple of months, you might do a little better."

In this case, the customer decides to sell and pockets more than $900.

The shop buys and sells much more than pennies, buffalo nickels and $20 gold pieces.

Rings and other jewelry, silverware, shot glasses, casino chips and just about any kind of collectible items make it to the counter, where they are appraised.

But coins, the rare and not so rare, are a big part of the business.

"Most people have some kind of coin collection in their family," he said. "Some people collect coins, others inherit them from their uncles or grandparents who have passed away."

No wooden nickels

Coins have value in several ways, face value being the obvious.

Coins can be valuable because they are rare and wanted by collectors. Some may have been minted in smaller numbers. Others may be scarce because they were recalled by the government and melted down for their gold or silver content.

However, about 90 percent of the coins Minsberg and his assistant Armand Stidham see are not rare.

"The odds of someone having a real valuable coin are long," Minsberg said. "They're called rare coins for a reason."

However, older coins may be worth more than face value because of the amount of gold and silver used to produce them, and the current high prices both metals are now fetching.

Five years ago, an ounce of gold traded at about $350. In March 2008, as the U.S. dollar plunged against other world currencies, gold briefly touched a record $1,000 an ounce.

In recent times, as the price of oil has backed off previous record highs and the dollar has strengthened, gold prices have fallen to around $900.

Silver, another key component in coins, has risen and fallen on the same economic tide, although at a much lower price. Currently, silver is trading in the $17-an-ounce range.

Minsberg keeps a daily, and often hourly, eye on the price of metal and other commodities.

His business, he said, is generally solid in both good and sour economic times.

"In good times, the retail side does well because people come in to buy coins, jewelry and other collectibles as investments," he said. "During economic downturns, people come in and want to sell."

New faces at the shop

Krista Lopez was driving through Old Town Temecula, saw the shop and stopped.

The 27-year-old Lake Elsinore woman walked in with a ring and a necklace she hoped would be worth enough money to fill up her gas tank.

"I need to get to Perris to visit my children," she said.

After evaluating the jewelry for its gold and silver value, Minsberg made Lopez an offer that she accepted.

"Sometimes you run into some bad luck," Lopez said. "You have to do what you have to do."

Those kind of quick-need customers are about 10 percent to 15 percent of the shop's business these days, Minsberg said.

Another 20 percent are people who are just down on their luck and have some coins or jewelry.

"But the majority of people are your average Joe," Minsberg said. "They've seen gold go up and up and have some (coins or jewelry) around the house."

However, in recent months a new face has been showing up at his door, one that Minsberg says doesn't quite fit the normal profile.

"They're usually about 45 to 50 years old, and you can tell by the way they dress they're probably upper middle-class," he said. "A lot of them say they were in the real estate business."

Some still collect

It's not all about selling Grandpa's old coins or Grandma's necklace.

There are those who still enjoy collecting coins as a hobby.

"The typical collector is usually male, and begins to gather coins about age 7," Minsberg said. "He'll usually keep at it until about age 14, when high school starts and he gets interested in other things."

That coin collection often sits for several decades as the young man finishes school, starts a family and establishes his career.

"Then when he's about 35 or 40, he starts collecting again," Minsberg said. "Maybe he remembers the good times he had with his parents and grandparents while collecting coins and wants to share that with his own children."

The hobby had really fallen on hard times until a decade ago.

"The State (commemorative) Quarter program was really a shot in the arm for collectors," Minsberg said. "Before that, the hobby was pretty much dead."

The 10-year program, which was to end this year, features designs of all 50 states on the quarter's reverse side. The coins were released in the order in which each state entered the Union. Coins celebrating Alaska (the 49th state) and Hawaii (the 50th) will be released later this year.

The program was recently extended, and next year six new quarters will be produced honoring the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

A good spot

Located in the midst of antique shops, restaurants and the current whirlwind of construction, Minsberg said Old Town Temecula is the perfect site for his business.

"Old coins and antiques kind of go together," he said. "I love the tourist traffic that comes in, and events like Hot Summer Nights and street painting really bring a lot of people down here."

Soon after, a young woman enters the shop with a ring she said her now ex-boyfriend gave her.

After a quick assessment by Minsberg, he offers the woman $35.

"It's really not worth much," he said. "You're probably better off keeping it."

"That figures," she said, tucking the ring away and closing the door behind her.

Contact staff writer John Hunneman at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2603, or hunneman@californian.com.