What started as a childhood hobby has become a lifelong passion for many Manitobans — a fact on full display last weekend as coin and stamp collectors packed the Access Centre in West St. Paul for the Manitoba Coin Club’s fall show.
Club president Eileen Grunwald said the weekend was a great success, with both days bringing a steady flow of visitors eager to admire, buy and exchange collectibles.
“The vendors are very happy with the turnout that’s come out and the people who’ve bought their products,” she said. “Which is what they are here for.”
A coin collector from the Interlake — who wishes to remain anonymous — attended the fall show and has been collecting coins for more than half a century.
Following in a friend’s footsteps after he received a batch of collectible coins from his father, the Interlake collector quickly fell in love with the history behind them and began building his own collection.
“It’s really been hit or miss throughout the years whether I’ve collected things or not, but being isolated through COVID got me back into my collections and doing an inventory of everything again,” he said.
He has collected coins from a multitude of locations, always making sure to include a stop at the local coin shop wherever he is travelling.
Currently, he is on the lookout for coins dated between 1911 and 1936 featuring King George V because he appreciates their firm date range.
His favourite — a 1921 five-cent coin — comes from his King George V collection, and he described the process of purchasing it as relatively straightforward.
“It was easy to get, but I had to get it verified that it was the real coin, then I had to check out current prices on it and pay a competitive price,” he explained.
Now, he is searching for high-grade 10-cent coins from the King George V era to round out his collection.
The Manitoba Coin Club is taking a break for the winter, but Grunwald noted they are planning a spring show in Portage la Prairie.
“It’s about us getting out around Manitoba and getting people interested in collecting coins,” she added. “That is what is important to us.”
