TREASURE TROVE: Making heads or tails of the collecting business

No matter how many times Terry Smith flips a coin, heads or tails, it’s bound to be lucky and worth lots of change.

Smith is the owner of Smitty’s Cards & Coins West, 2281 Postal Drive, Unit 4, a store he brought to Pahrump just over a year ago.

“Business is great, I’m really surprised, I’m doing great,” Smith said.

Smith has vast array of collectibles which can range from a 25 cent coin to a $2,500 one, and a little bit of everything in between.

“Somebody is always finding something in here they like,” Smith said. “Whether you know, it’s just plain silver and gold, or they want silver dollars, ancient coins, Lincoln pennies, or a silver certificate. There’s so many different things here.”

He will buy, sell and trade.

“We do mainly, my advertising, I do is for buying,” he said. “Because, I need to buy to keep the stuff going. We sell, we aren’t afraid to tell people our buy-in or sell price on items so that they know the profit we’re making on it. And then we trade. Some people say, hey, I’ve got a bunch of these I don’t collect anymore, can I trade them in towards a more expensive coin or piece of currency?”

Smith said he will look at just about anything, especially small collectibles that people bring in. But, it has to be something that catches his eye for him to buy.

“I mean, I bought the wooden eagle over there,” he said pointing to the figure. “Just because it looks cool.”

He conducts business differently than a pawnbroker who, according to Smith, will lend you money on your items and charge a monthly interest rate (usually 10 percent) on an item which will be held for 90 days.

“It’s really not what I want to do,” he explained. “If you need to sell something to get you by, I’ll pay a fair price on it. But when I buy it, it’s mine to do what I want to do with it. Or, I want to add it to my collection, or sell it the next day.”

Items that cross his counter don’t always have to be valuable, but unique.

“I’ve had Carson City gold coins come in,” he said. “And anything made at Carson City is cool.”

He started collecting stuff when he was 11 years old. At nineteen, he went to a coin and card show at a mall in Pittsburgh, Kansas. When he expressed an interest in selling to one of the vendors, the man gave Smith half a table for free to display and sell his items. He was hooked.

“At that time, you referred to yourself as a vest pocket dealer,” he said. “In other words, this is your hobby, secondary income. You have a real job, this is something you do on the side.”

He never thought it would become a full-time venture. About 25 years ago he took a chance and opened a store in the Rochester, New York area. The store is still there with his name attached to it, but his former business partner is now the owner.

Coins, currency and sports cards make up most of his inventory. He agreed that certain coins like wheat pennies and Mercury dimes are reappearing in circulation.

“When the economy really went rock-bottom, everybody had little piggy banks, old jars of coins and pennies,” Smith said. “They started taking and cashing them in, because times were hard and, especially, older people to make ends meet. They had to cash those in. Well, they didn’t realize that what they had was worth money.”

An average wheat penny is worth three cents, but a 1955 double die is worth much more according to Smith. He advises people who want to collect coins and understand what they’re worth to buy the so-called “Red Book” which is a must-read for collectors.

Smith is really not looking for “modern stuff” unless it’s made out of silver or gold since it is probably only worth the face value. He said the popular state quarters are fun to collect, but they have no value, they are only worth 25 cents.

First-time Smitty’s customer Wes Allison came into the store looking for football cards and coins. Smith showed him a vintage Joe Namath football card, which he didn’t buy.

“Not yet, I will though,” said Allison, who is interested in old currency.

Smith said appraisals are free and he doesn’t pressure anyone to sell.

“I tell people if they want to know what it’s worth, I’ll make you an offer and if you like it, fine,” Smith said. “If you want a second opinion, I don’t mind. Go do it, because I’ll probably see you back pretty quick.”