1984
BBB accredited — two years in
Accredited by the Better Business Bureau barely two years after opening, and we've held an A+ rating ever since. Four decades is a long time to keep a clean sheet in this business.
Steve Foster Sr. left restaurant management and opened a tiny coin shop down the street from where we stand now. His kids grew up behind the counter. They're the ones who own it today.
In 1982, after a career in restaurant management, Steve Foster Sr. opened Fresno Coin as a small mom-and-pop shop in a tiny building down the street from our current location. The whole business was coins and gold buying.
Steve is an expert in U.S. coins with a particular passion for Bust Halves. That detail matters more than it sounds — a man who loves Bust Halves is a man who cares whether a coin has been cleaned. The standards at that counter in 1982 are the standards at three counters today.
His love of Fresno history is why the photographs are on the Showroom walls. Nobody asked him to hang them. He simply found them interesting and thought other people might too — which, four decades later, is also the reason this site has a Learning Center instead of a coupon page.
Kathy Foster is responsible for the warm service that built the loyal customer base this business still runs on. That's not a soft claim — it's the mechanism. Stephanie Niewohner says: "I have been going to Fresno Coin Gallery since I was a child. I can remember my dad telling me this was the place to go for an honest deal, and he was right."
That's two generations of one customer family, describing two generations of ours.
Pawn loans were added on gold jewelry, diamonds, sterling, Rolex and coins, for one reason: people needed money but didn't want to sell the things they loved. It's a small distinction that changed what this business is. We buy gold — but we'd rather lend you money and give the ring back.
Stephen has worked here since he was in middle school. Philip grew up in the business, got interested in Ancient Roman coinage as a child, expanded into U.S. coins in the mid-90s, and became a GIA certified diamond expert — he now runs The Showroom. Stephanie grew up around it and took over marketing in 2011 after fifteen years in law enforcement.
Kendra Heltne, who manages loans at Blackstone, is the owners' cousin. Aaron Ellis, who manages the Showroom, has been Stephen's best friend since childhood. Richard Dahlgren, who runs Visalia, has been a friend of the family for decades.
It is, in the least marketing sense possible, a family business.
The Blackstone site grew into two buildings — The Pawn Shop, which handles buying and loans, and The Showroom, which holds coins, currency, bullion, estate and designer jewelry, Rolex, loose diamonds, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, and Rhythm clocks. Downtown Fresno and Visalia opened as quick counters for selling and pawning closer to home.
Today Steve Foster Jr. sits on the boards of the Fresno Numismatic Society, the Foundation at Fresno County Office of Education, and the California Pawnbrokers Association — all with the goal of raising the professionalism and image of an industry that has needed it.
The Central Valley's #1 gold buyer for over thirty years. BBB accredited since 1984 with an A+ rating, and the BBB's Torch Award for Ethics in 2012. Since 2010 we've sent $343,296 to Valley school children, and in 2012 a single promotion raised $250,000 for Children's Hospital.
Same family. Same handshake. Still more than a coin gallery.
Steve Sr., fresh off a restaurant career, opens Fresno Coin in a tiny building down the street from today's location. Coins and gold buying — that's the whole business. Kathy builds the service reputation that still carries the name.
Accredited by the Better Business Bureau barely two years after opening, and we've held an A+ rating ever since. Four decades is a long time to keep a clean sheet in this business.
Pawn loans added on gold jewelry, diamonds, sterling, Rolex and coins — so customers who needed money didn't have to sell the things they loved.
Master jeweler Richard Cervantes joins after twenty years running his own shop. Richard Dahlgren, a friend of the family for decades, joins the same year and now runs Visalia.
Mark Fischer joins as a coin and currency expert; Michelle Page comes in to run administration through a period of real growth. The Showroom opens as its own building. Stephen and Philip step up as owners.
A gold-buying event where the proceeds go to Valley school kids. It has since sent $343,296 to the Fresno and Tulare County Offices of Education for academics, agriculture, arts and athletics.
A second counter opens on Tulare Street. Stephanie takes over marketing after fifteen years in law enforcement.
The Better Business Bureau hands us its Torch Award for Ethics, honouring integrity in both operations and character. The same year, the Gold Treasure Giveaway raises $250,000 for Children's Hospital of Central California in four months.
South Mooney Boulevard. Tulare County gets its own counter.
Steve Jr. works to raise the standard of the whole pawnbroker industry from three different boards. Philip runs the Showroom. Richard is still at the bench. Same family, same handshake.
Same family, same corner of Blackstone, since 1982. Come see what forty-four years in one town looks like.