Like the coins it sells, Fullerton Coins & Stamps is a rare breed.
The coin business has gone online to sites such as eBay, said Bill Pannier, owner of the longtime Fullerton store.
“It’s changed a whole lot,” he said.
Pannier said he still prefers doing business the old fashioned way. He doesn’t even own a computer.
“I don’t take checks or credit cards either,” he said.
If he needs to check the value of a coin, he references books.
“I can make a phone call if I need to,” Pannier said.
Fullerton Coins & Stamps still advertises in the Yellow Pages. The shop is closed on Sunday and Monday. It’s best to call ahead, he said. Sometimes he’s at a coin show, where he sets up a booth.
“I sell more than I buy,” he said.
There are coin shows in Long Beach, Anaheim and one next month in Buena Park, according to Pannier.
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Fullerton Coins & Stamps: rent cheaper than South County, Pannier says |
He said he can sit at the store a whole day and make just $10. The next, he can make $50,000.
“Some days it seems like the bus stopped out front,” Pannier said.
That’s the nature of the business.
“You never know what’s going to walk through the door,” he said.
Customers come from all over, including Arizona, he said. Recently, one Orange County billionaire stopped in.
The occasional celebrity pops in. Dwight Manley, a well-known OC coin collector and entrepreneur, is a regular. He worked at the shop as a kid. Manley and Pannier are friends.
Manley made history books for buying sunken treasure, which included gold bars and coins from a recovered 1857 shipwreck, and for selling his 1913 Liberty Nickel in 2003 for a then-record $3 million. He bought it in 2001 for $1.84 million.
Pannier bought the business in 1974. Back then, he paid about $275 a month in rent for his 1,100-square-foot store, he said. The rent in Fullerton still is a bargain compared to South County, Pannier said.
He said he started collecting when he was 10. He would go to the bank and buy a bag of pennies, called “cents” in the coin world. His personal collection includes paper money dating back to the 1860s from all the banks in OC at the time. He recommends that anyone interested in buying or selling coins buy the U.S. Coins Red Book, published annually.
Profits are slim in gold and silver coins but better for rare coins, he said. Stamps are a dying business, he said. They don’t even amount to 1% of his business, he said.
Pannier used to be a member of several Orange County coin clubs but a lot of them are gone now, he said. His family has been in OC since the 1880s. His parents were ranchers. Pannier has inherited some of his parent’s land, so he’s been able to live comfortably running his small store and indulging in his passion.
“I’m sitting comfortably,” he said.
Auto Tech Competition
Last week, 12 high school seniors competed to be the best automotive technician in a contest put on by the Orange County Auto Dealers Association in Costa Mesa. It was the next step before the nationals in New York.
The 14th annual contest was held at Hyundai Motor America Inc.’s headquarters in Fountain Valley.
The contest provides scholarships and helps draw attention to the shortage of auto technicians. The industry expects to add 32,000 jobs annually through 2014, according to the association. Auto technicians can earn up to $100,000 a year. The field requires a minimum two years postsecondary education.
Students have been training since October at sponsoring dealerships: Allen Cadillac GMC Hyundai in Laguna Niguel, Phillips Buick Pontiac Mazda in Laguna Hills, Hardin Honda in Anaheim, Toyota of Orange and Santa Margarita Ford in Rancho Santa Margarita.
The competition began with a 100-question test. Nearly 50 seniors from 10 local high schools took the exam. The highest scoring moved on to the competition held on Saturday.
Participating high schools included San Clemente High School, Loara High School in Anaheim, La Habra High School and Mission Viejo High School.
Each student had 90 minutes to detect and repair bugs in vehicles. The winners compete in the National Automotive Technology Competition in New York in April. They’ll receive $150,000 in scholarships. OC dealers also are offering scholarships.
Hardin Nominated
Roberta Hardin Bechtloff, general manager of Hardin Honda of Anaheim, was one of 60 dealers nominated for the 38th 2007 Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award. The OC auto association nominated Hardin Bechtloff, who was honored at the recent National Automotive Dealer Association meeting in Las Vegas.
She’s a third generation auto dealer who got her start at Hardin Oldsmobile, founded in 1957. She became general manager of Hardin Honda in 1996.
The overall winner was Tracy Shields Jones, president of Century Automotive Group, of Huntsville, Ala.
