Willow Glen Resident

Cover Story

Photograph courtesy of Don Lynch

Bank on It: The $50 bank note (above) was issued from Farmers National Gold Bank of San Jose. The notes were fairly common in those days. The bank was renamed First National Bank in 1800. Today it is known as Bank of the West. The $50 bank note is extremely rare.

Minted in Time

Coin collecting is once again a popular hobby

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

There are numerous symbols that come to represent important events, ideals and beliefs, but there is common item used on a daily basis that embodies all three--American currency.

From the penny bearing the United States' 16th president to the 1986 commemorative silver dollar, which depicts Lady Liberty, coins serve to educate about history and in turn become part of it. The Susan B. Anthony coin is no exception.

When it appeared in 1979, this silver disc represented Anthony's 60 years of work in the women's suffrage movement and became a tangible symbol that Americans wanted to have in their hands. Anthony's birthday on Feb. 15 now stands as a commemorative day in the country's calendar.

Willow Glen's San Jose Coins owner Don Lynch remembers the day the coin premiered.

"We had a line out the door," Lynch says.

Lynch's family has owned and operated the coin shop since 1958. His uncle, John Serpa, started the business as a youngster, and the shop always fascinated Lynch.

"I always had an interest in old coins," Lynch says.

The 51-year-old was 9 when he was first hooked on becoming a numismatist; the bait was a 1932 San Francisco Mint quarter.

"I just needed to have it," Lynch says. "I traded a bunch of baseball cards to get it."

The coin was one of only 408,000 made, compared to the 5 million coins the Philadelphia Mint put out that same year.

The San Francisco Mint is one of four United States mints, which include Philadelphia, Pa.; Denver, Colo.; and West Point, N.Y., but only Philadelphia and Denver make coins for general circulation.

Young didn't own the coveted coin for long.

"When I found out how much it was worth, I sold it for $45 and bought a bike," he says. "Collecting coins quickly turned into a vehicle for me to make a living."

In 1977, 21-year-old Lynch purchased the family business from Serpa and moved it from its original location on W. San Carlos Street to the former Town and Country Village on Winchester Boulevard, which was developed into Santana Row. In 1999, however, he was faced with a tough decision.

The Internet boom that year was killing the coin business, he says.

Coins were being overvalued, and many people were paying inflated prices.

"It left a sour taste for coin collecting," Lynch says. "I was going through a time where I was seriously thinking of getting out of the business."

Then the U.S. Mint launched a new coin series. On Jan. 4, 1999, the 50 State Quarter Program set coin collecting on fire.

The first state quarter released was Delaware. After that, a new state quarter debuted every 10 weeks in the order of the states' admission to the union. The final set of quarters will be released in 2008. The last in the series are Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii.

"The demand for these coins was phenomenal," Lynch says. "They have rejuvenated coin collecting like nothing ever has."

With the sale of Town and Country Village that same year, Lynch knew his next move--Willow Glen.

Lynch's parents lived in Willow Glen for more than 25 years, and when they sold their home five years ago, it was the people they missed the most, he says.

"When we were looking for a location, I knew I wanted to get in here," he says. "It's a great little area with a nice co-mingling of people who have lived here from five years to 50 years."

With the success of the first five quarters in the series, Lynch moved his business to Willow Glen.

"Some people come in and that's all they want," he says.

The quarter series re-energized those who had put their coin collecting on the back burner. Now these people are picking up where they left off.

The quarters have also stimulated a younger crowd of collectors.

Lynch says an interest in coin collecting often begins in children around 8 or 9 years old.

"At this age, you become aware of dates and times," he says.

Coin an idea

A numismatist is attracted to the hobby for several reasons, according to Lynch: pleasure, history or financial investment. Yet coin collecting is a unique way of preserving and learning about history simultaneously.

He says a perfect example is the Widow's Mite. It's a 2,000-year-old coin, much like the penny, and was in circulation during Christ's time.

"What other item of the past can you take and hold in your hand, examine and handle?" Lynch asks. "Clothes deteriorate, and most antiquities are too frail and delicate to even touch. It's just a penny and wasn't worth much, but 2,000 years later means a lot."

Individuals also collect to fill the holes in their coin folders.

"People start looking at their albums, and there are always at least five coins missing," Lynch says. "They begin to look and start trading their duplicate coins."

It's the pursuit of that coveted missing coin that consistently raises values and excites collectors. The 1909 Indian penny from the San Francisco mint can be worth $500, he says.

"You pursue coins, either by purchase or trade or by receiving it from someone like an older relative," he says.

Not a lot of these older coins are in general circulation.

"Usually, older, rarer coins show up when an elderly person comes in with a satchel of stuff or gives a child their satchel," Lynch says.

This renewed interest in old coins has, in Willow Glen resident Salvatore Falcone's eyes, been long overdue

"There's a general nostalgia for old stuff," says the owner of Falcone Coins and Jewelry. "Years ago, people were very aware of their money. Now, we live in a plastic world where people don't even know what their change looks like."

Although the coin is the predominant form of currency that numismatists look for, the industry and public demand has shifted in the last 10 years to include currency, or paper money.

"It has grown more significant because of its rarity," Lynch says.

Coins survive an average of seven to 10 years in circulation. Paper money only circulates an average of a year or a year and a half because it deteriorates at a greater pace, he says.

"A few years back, a $5 bill was found in Ducor, California, by a Salvation Army employee," he says.

"It was pressed between the pages of an old Bible that had been donated. The bill was worth $12,000."

Lynch himself is currently involved in a seven-figure deal that involves rare bank notes.

"It's a pretty significant group of real specialists that are out looking for items like these," he says.

It's in these types of sales that the Internet still does not take the place of coin shops, he says.

"It's important to have a location and have that face-to-face contact," Lynch says. "Willow Glen has three coin dealers, all who have extremely good reputations and track records with people."

San Jose Coin Shop is at 1084 Meridian Ave., 408.266.2500. Falcone Coins and Jewelry is at 1230 Lincoln Ave., 408.295. 8995.Vic's Coin Shop is at 1108 Lincoln Ave., 408.295.8995.

Coin an Idea: San Jose Coin Shop owner Don Lynch has a collection of valuable paper currency that the U.S. Mint has changed over the years. Most recently, the look and feel of paper currency has been changed to discourage counterfeiting. Lynch has a variety of paper currencies for sale.

Playing it Safe: San Jose Coin Shop on Meridian Avenue has been a family-run business since 1958. Owner Don Lynch moved the shop to Willow Glen in 1999. Behind him is a circa 1900 Mosler safe, which is in his store. He acquired it from Wells Fargo Bank Palo Alto branch.