Opened in 1982 as a place to buy and sell coins, bullion, currency, and jewelry; It was truly a mom and pop operation in the early days. The advertising budget was thin.

I remember as a young child driving to work with Mom and Dad. The first thing we did was park across the street on Blackstone (in front of the old Continental Market) and we would hang a big orange sign on the back of our Chevy truck and camper shell.

My father created a flyer to hand out and we delivered it door to door in 1982. I chuckle when I think of our early efforts to gain customers.

In 1988 I began working at the Shop after school every day and on the weekend. We decided to buy and sell sports cards, which were very popular at this time. I loved this part of the business and I was allowed to manage this department. Eventually we stopped dealing in sports memorabilia and went back to our primary focus of coins, bullion and jewelry.

Lee Green is a dear friend of our family and was a dedicated employee for many of the early years. He is now in business for himself as a coin dealer. He contributed to Fresno Coin a great deal by being a knowledgeable, reliable, and trustworthy employee and friend.

My brother Philip began working at the shop after school each day at junior high age. His early interests included Ancient coins, sports cards and United States coins. He is very knowledgeable on U.S. coins and metal detectors and is now Co-Owner/Manager of The Showroom at Fresno Coin.

In 1996 a colleague coin dealer from La Habra California, Bob Wiborg, told us we should be offering to loan on all the items we were already buying and selling. My dad and I respected this friend so much that we had to look into it. We went to his store in Southern CA and we loved it! Coins, Jewelry, Sports Cards, Currency and he was even making collateral loans on all these items. And they did it all with a professionalism, dignity, and respect for themselves and their customers which we decided to try to emulate.

This has grown into a very important part of our business. We strive to be different than the ill reputation that so many past pawnbrokers have earned.

In the year 2000 we offered a job to my brother-in-law, Mark Thomas, and he accepted. He had a past in collecting sports cards, so learning to grade and evaluate came easily to him. He became very knowledgeable in the area of U.S. coins and was a valued employee until 2008 when he pursued Construction Management.

In 2003 we made the huge and overdue leap of moving our business and purchasing our building. This was a great way to expand our size while really grabbing control of our future. We just moved one block to the north on Blackstone Ave. Our new location was three times the size of the old one with great security and more parking. The move allowed us the space to hire a wonderful full-time jeweler.

In 2003 we hired Carlos Jimenez, the Master Jeweler. We have known him as a friend for over 25 years. He is so beloved by his many customers and is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.

Anticipating the busy times ahead at our new building, we hired my little sister, Christine Foster. She developed an appreciation for fine jewelry and a desire to follow in our mom‘s footsteps. After 7 years with the company, she has brought the Jewelry Department to an impressive new level as the Director of Jewelry Marketing and Sales.

In 2004, we hired Aaron Ellis away from his corporate job. He is a graduate of the Sid Craig school of Business at Fresno State and has brought many new ideas to Fresno Coin and Merchandising strategy. He is knowledgeable on U.S. coins and his specialty is Morgan Dollars. I must take credit for his hire as he has been my best friend for many years. He is now the Showroom Manager.

We now have another wonderful jeweler in Richard Cervantes (formerly of Jewels by Richard).

We were fortunate enough to hire my cousin, Kendra Heltne, and our long time friend, Richard Dahlgren. Both have been very trusted employees for the past 6 years. They work together in the Loan Building, with Richard as Loan Manager and Kendra as Assistant Loan Manager.

In June 2008, we hired Michelle Page as our Office Manager. She handles payroll, accounting, scheduling, benefits, and much more. She is our HR Department. To say that she has eased our transition from a small family business to 30+ employees would be an understatement.

Over the years, Fresno Coin has been steadily expanding and in the Spring of 2009, we remodeled the former BMW Motorcycles building just next door, moved our large inventory of coins and jewelry into the spacious new display area, and called it The Showroom. The Showroom has a sparkling new jewelry store feel to it with new grand glass cases and crystal chandeliers, while still capturing the museum-style Old Fresno ambiance we’ve always been known for.

The former location, still in operation just one building South of The Showroom, was given a real makeover when we built all new loan windows, complete with solid bulletproof glass and an even stronger security system. The interior of the building has an exciting new look with the dark wood pillars and brick detailing conjuring images of an old bank.

With all this new space, we needed more help! We hired many more TRUSTED friends and family members to make up a team of over 30+ employees at Fresno Coin’s Showroom and Loan Building.

Fresno Coin Gallery has done nothing but grow and evolve under the guidance of Steve and Kathy Foster over the years. We are very proud of being a Family Business and hope to always give customers that feeling. We believe that honesty, integrity, and good values will always appeal to our customers and our future customers. The future looks bright as we have big plans for continued growth.