Brian & Jennifer Belcher of Main Street Coin Company, Manny Semiatin of Shoebox Cards, attendees

Long Beach Expo Coin Show

February 17-19, 2022

 Show Hours
Thu.: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Fri.: 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Sat.: 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Limited to dealers

Long Beach Convention Center
100 S. Pine Ave.
Long Beach, CA
$, longbeachexpo.com

By C. MacDonald

The Long Beach Expo (coin, currency, stamp and sports collectible show) celebrated its Anniversary with more than 6,000 people, who interacted with hundreds of exhibitors, including the delightful Jennifer Belcher, owner of Main Street Coin Company, the only such store in Tulare County. This was the first expo for the daughter of the late legendary numismatist, Larry Plunkett, and both she and her husband, Brian, were ecstatic with the results.

Pictured is Cassi East, President of Long Beach Expos, with on-site staff at event

"The experience was beyond our wildest expectations," Belcher said at the popular Long Beach Convention Center event. " We're really looking forward to coming back to the next Expos in June and September." Their 10th wedding anniversary will fall during the show on Sept. 5, 2014.

"I grew up around coins in my father's Visalia shop (which he started in 1980) and worked there. When he passed away, his partners took over the business and then when they retired I purchased it last year. So I've come full circle," said the woman whose grandfather, George, also loved coins. " This is all I've ever wanted to do. It's the one thing I'm really good at. You learn so much about coins and history. It's so much fun getting to share your passion and help other people."

Belcher said the number one misnomer about coins is that they are valued by how old they are. " It's really their condition and how many were minted in a certain year as well as other factors," she said. " Another misnomer is that you need to clean them up to sell them. That devalues them. Collectors want them just the way they are. Leave them in the jar or envelope they're in and you don't need to organize anything." (Main Street Coin Company is at 204 W. Main St., Visalia, CA 93291; 559-734-8840)

She said coins with errors on them often are worth more than ones in good condition. " Sometimes coins are missing a piece of metal, have an additional image from being struck again off center or have other errors." One of the coins she was displaying was an 1864 Indian head dime, minted 100 years before the Long Beach Expo began by local businessmen Ray Lundgren and " Trader Sam" Frudakis. Today, it's a division of Collectors Universe Inc. To find out about future shows and other information, email info@LongBeachExpo.com or call 888-743-9316.

The fascinating show is a living history experience with such a wonderful variety of stamps and sports collectibles. Manny Semiatin, and his wife, Sherry, of Shoebox Cards (of California), based in Santa Maria, had a nice display of baseball and football cards as well as autographed memorabilia.
 

"It's all about scarcity and condition," Semiatin said. His cards were divided into " commons" and " stars" sections. "The only card I wouldn't sell is my Topps 1952 Gus Zernial," he said. Zernial of the Philadelphia Athletics is pictured holding a bat with six baseballs attached to it. " It's so unusual," he said of the former slugger and All Star, who was once the American League Home Run and RBI Champ. (You can contact Semiatin on Amazon or at 805-478-4290.) Congratulations to all the exhibitors and visitors at the Long Beach Expo, who helped kick off the 50th Anniversary Year with gusto!