OCEANFRONT — Collectors of all ages from around the region attended the spring coin show presented by the Tidewater Coin Club on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 18-19, at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
The group has about 150 members, and it hosts two shows a year, according to John Kolos, the chairperson for the show.
Collectors and dealers at the event spoke of getting involved in a hobby that can be enjoyed for a lifetime. Some get hooked young.
“When I was little, you drop a silver dollar in your palm, it fills your palm,” Kolos said.
There were collectors of all kinds.
Scott Snook of Kempsville said history is a part of it. “You hold something 100, 200 years old.”
“Or 2,000,” Kolos added.
“It’s a lot of history,” Snook said.
Some collectors started their efforts with family or from visits to neighborhood coin shops. Others found it later because they were interested in U.S. or world history.
Still others are drawn to it because of connections to faith and ancient civilizations.
Years ago, Joe Riggs of Virginia Beach encountered a Pontius Pilate coin circulated in the ancient Roman world.
“I got bit by the bug,” he said, adding that his collection expanded to coins such as the widow’s mite, tiny bronze coins mentioned in the Bible.
“It’s pretty exciting for me,” he said. “It’s like making history come alive.”
Visit tidewatercoinclub.org for information about the club. It meets monthly in Norfolk.
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