Grant County Coin Club Hosts 65th Annual Coin Show

The Grant County Coin Club hosted their 65th annual Spring Coin Show on Saturday at the Grant County Fair Grounds.

Twenty eight dealers from Indiana, Ohio and Michigan were present at the event buying and selling a variety of gold, silver, tokens and foreign currency.

“There’s everything that you can think of that folks in the numismatics world like to collect,” said Club President Jose Perez.

Perez said that while the club celebrated 65 years in 2023, this is their official 65th year hosting a coin show.

“The Marion show is a very good show,” said Ed Plasterer, a collector and seller from Huntington who has been attending the show for eight years. “It’s well established.”

John Brownell, a seller from Lima, Ohio said he has been attending coin shows since 1971. He said he has been attending the Grant County show for about 10 or 15 years.

“It’s a small show,” Brownell said “We all know each other, and we just have a good time trading, buying and selling.

Brownell said the amount of people present at coin shows can depend heavily on the prices of gold and silver.

“When the market’s up it grows,” said Brownell. “Back in the early ‘70s and the late ‘60s it was busier, you know, I could have these types of coins out on the table, and they could be gone by the end of the show.”

Perez said that the coin club tries to market towards both collectors and people looking to invest in gold and silver.

“You have those folks who are just interested in buying bullion, silver bars, gold bars, but you have a lot of people who like coins,” said Perez. “So, they collect coins based on not value, but the numismatic value as opposed to just bullion.”

Perez said for future shows he wants to find a building with more space for the show.

“We got more dealers that want to set up at the Marion Coin Show than we have space available for them,” said Perez.

For those interested in collecting coins and precious metals, dealers recommend doing research to find out how much different coins are worth.

“Some people are more than happy to hand the customer the books so they can look and see, and other people not so much,” said Plasterer. “But for the most part coin dealers are pretty honest.”

The Grant County Coin Club is accepting members, and those interested are encouraged to visit their website at marioncoinclubin.tripod.com.