Pacific Northwest Coin Road Trip [27 coin shops] + Visiting Dansco's Offices [March 17 - 22th 2025]

In early 2024, I went on a crazy four-state road trip and visited 23 coin shops. I wrote an article in CoinWeek about the oddities and interesting observations I noticed along the way. I'm doing it all over again, this time heading towards the Pacific Northwest. I will document my journey and the unique cultures of coin shops around the North and PNW on my Instagram.
As some here may know, I'm a huge Dansco album nerd. That's why I'm excited that on Friday, March 21st, I'll be visiting the Dansco Corporation's Headquarters in Sumas, Washington! The company's owners were kind enough to accept my request to visit and nerd out.

Along with documenting the different cultures of coin shops around the North and PNW, my top goal is to add rare and unique Dansco albums to my collection.




On The Agenda: 3 States, 13 Cities, 27 Coin Shops + A Visit to the Dansco Corporation

Montana
Billings

• Montana Bullion & Coin
• Grizzly Gold and Silver
• Ardie's Coins

Bozeman

• Penny Ranch
• Williams Gallery

Butte

• JS Coins
• All Stars Collectibles

Missoula

• Grizzley Gold and Silver
• Missoula Gold & Silver
• Treasure Coins
• Jem Shoppe Jewelers & Rare Coins

Idaho
Coeur d'Alene

• Spartacus Coins Bullion Collectibles
• DJ's Coins & Collectibles

Post Falls

• North Idaho Coin Company
  

Washington State
Spokane

• Coin Corner
• A-1 Coin Co.
• Coins Plus, Inc
• Eastern Washington Coin Co.
• American Coin & Vault
• Red Line Coins

Everett

• Odyssey-2
  

Seattle

• Coin & Stamp Shop
  

Kirkland

• Bel-Kirk Stamps, Coins, & Comics
• Redmond Rare Coins

Tacoma

• Tacoma Mall Blvd Coin, Stamp, & Jewelry
  

Lakewood

• B & I Coin Shop
  

Olympia

• American Rare Coin, Gold & Jewelry
  

I can't promise I'll make it to all 27 coin shops, but I would like to invite the community to join me in any way they can.

• Are there any coin shops along my route that you think I should especially visit?
  
• What would you like me to keep an eye out for and report back?
  
• What questions would you like me to ask the owners of Dansco?
  
• Anything else you think I should consider?
  

It's shaping up to be one heck of a week-long road trip. Wish me luck.

 

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Very cool. I can't wait to see what you find. Good luck and safe travels.

 

Should be a fun trip. Can't wait to read the write up.

 

I greatly appreciated your last write up.
Looking forward to your next article.
Enjoy every moment of your adventure!

 

Cool beans!

 

Looks like an awesome adventure. I look forward to reading your report.

 

I envy your trip. Don't forget to eat some of the local cuisine. Take a bunch of pictures when you're at the Dansco headquarters. Safe travels. Viya Con Dios!!

 

Looking forward to a report from Bozeman. I'll be there in May for my daughter's graduation (MSU) and might have some time to kill. I never thought to look for an LCS the past few times. Duh!

 

The last time I was at Bel-Kirk it was a bit of a mess. Maybe you'll find something buried in there. I was at Redmond Rare Coins about a year ago. I has a somewhat new owner but is a nice place. Had your trip been a couple years ago, I would have recommended another shop but I has a new owner and is a real mess now. I had a thread about it a few months ago. I'm in the Kirkland area if you have any questions.

 

Have a great trip and best of luck with your quest for rare Dansco albums. As many have already responded, I look forward to reading your report. Hopefully you'll have no motel issues like last time. Travel well, travel safe.

 

A couple more in MT. Wayne Miller in Helena. Coins and Carats (My local but a couple hour away)in Kalispell, owned by JB Love. If you bought silver dollars back in the 60’s 70’s 80’s you would be familiar with his dad John Love from Cut Bank MT

 

I used to love making these trips. A lot of stuff just lies around a coin shop forever until I stop by. I'd always ask them if they had a junk bucket or oddballs and sell it to me out right or let me bid on stuff. It began some really odd collections.

Usually I was looking for Gems but picked up all sorts of stuff much of which was used for trading.

 

Update!

Day 1: 8-hour drive to Billings, MT. No coin shops today

After I made my post, a few people reached out and convinced me to spend a few hours at Grunberg Schloss Collectors Cabinet in Ponderay, ID. They also recommended I focus on certain Spokane shops with more coin albums to browse through. With the detour to Ponderay and changing the schedule, I've removed these coin shops on my road trip list.

Idaho
Coeur d'Alene

• Spartacus Coins Bullion Collectibles

• DJ's Coins & Collectibles

Post Falls

• North Idaho Coin Company

• Washington State

Spokane

• Coin Corner

• A-1 Coin Co.

• American Coin & Vault

Added

Idaho
Ponderay

• Grunberg Schloss Collectors Cabinet

 

Not coin related but the Battlefield with Custer is well worth the time if you have a chance on the return route. James

 

That place gave me the creeps. So much bad juju. Last time I was there it was 4th of July and we randomly stopped on our way through. Native Americans were having an event, on horses etc, which was very cool to happen upon.

 

@KBBPLL . I agree. I have seen and been to a great many battlefields, national monuments etc. Nowhere else I have ever been has that atmosphere. We saw it back in 1991 just after a large fire destroyed all the grasses. They were digging up all kinds of artifacts while we were there. James

 

If you are going up to BC, try to get to Paccoin. He's on the sites as Pacificoin. It's in the Fraser Valley in Chilliwack. I understand he is a large dealer and is active on the sites. If you DO stop up in Canada, the border agents are now VERY strict on what you are bringing across. There will be a tariff on any goods over $50. The tariff will be $65 Cdn for every $100 US goods. I got this from the border agents yesterday when I had to go to the VA in Buffalo. Good luck.

 

I live close to the border and a young lady working at a dollar store told me that Canadians come to the U.S. wearing old shoes, jackets and clothes, then buy new and throw away the old before returning to Canada.

 

Wow! Thanks for the heads up. I considered staying in the Canadian city of Huntingdon, just north of Sumas, WA, for my visit to Dansco. But I decided against it because I didn't want the hassle of explaining a car full of coin albums lol. Good to know that they're now strict on tariffs.

 

Day 2 Update: Three cities, 344 miles, & five coin shops

The first significant day of my coin-collecting trip was a success! I added the following items to my inventory for about $600. My car is getting quite full, so I may need to visit the post office soon . Below are my thoughts on the various coin shops I visited.

Today’s Haul

• 8 x Dansco Albums
• 11 x Dansco Pages
• 4 x Vintage Whitman Albums/Folders
• 16 x Modern Whitman Canada Folders
• 2 x Library of Coins Albums
• 36 x Vintage Mehrig Albums
• 4 lbs World Coins + Misc Individual World Coins
• 1 x Commemorative Clad Half Dollar

I could not resist buying a large set of 36 Mehrig albums for just $100 in total. The dealer who sold them to me acquired them from an older dealer who purchased the albums in the 1950s. I don't know much about Mehrig albums; however, David Lange researched them extensively for his coin album research books. Although I had promised myself I wouldn't add albums from other manufacturers to my collection, this was too good to pass up. Now I will need to buy another bookshelf, lol.

Montana
Billings
Montana Bullion & Coin

• They required arranging an appointment beforehand, so I skipped it.

Grizzly Gold and Silver

• I had a pleasant conversation with Randall about German coins. He was surprised to learn that I spoke some German, as I had studied abroad and taught English for two years in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, which he had recently visited.
• The selection of world coins and coin albums was good, and there was a typical display of US coins.
• Gave me a discount on some coin albums.
• I got this pro tip for buying world coins individually, but a dealer only sells them in bulk. “Offer to pay double the bulk price if you get to pick out individual coins. So if they charge $10 per pound, offer to pay $20 per pound, but you get to pick out each coin. I’ve found dealers will be open to that.”

Ardie's Coins

• Ardie was very personable, and we had a great conversation about our favorite coin album manufacturers [he enjoys Library of Coins].
• They had an extensive wall of various Dansco albums.
• Huge selection of world & US coins, tokens, and medals.
• We agreed to stay in touch since he has more albums in storage for me to look at.

Bozeman
Penny Ranch

• The store was pretty busy when I visited. There was a fair selection of US coins. I didn’t see any world coins, and they only had a few coin albums.
• I got a good discount on the few albums I purchased.

Williams Gallery

• General modern coin shop with mostly US coins, but they had a wide selection of coin albums, especially Littleton
• I only saw US coins, and most were Morgan Dollars
• I got a good discount on my purchase

Butte
JS Coins

• This is the best coin shop I visited today! I'm always surprised by coin shops in small towns. Usually, they're tiny, don't have much inventory, and mainly operate as gold and silver shops. But sometimes, I find a small-town shop run by a passionate collector.
• The shop typically closes at 6 pm, but Joseph stayed open an extra hour and a half so we could talk coins. We even had a funny moment when I asked him about Dansco albums. He said, “I actually have 400 Dansco’s in my collection,” and I replied, “I think I have you beat at 800.”
• I really enjoyed talking with Joseph. His main job is being a plumber, but he collects coins and runs his shop for fun. (That explains why the store sign says JS Plumbing & Heating) He sells on WhatNot and Ebay and taught me a lot about how WhatNot operates.
• It turns out he even bought from my Ebay store before! He pulled out one of the business cards I put in my eBay orders. I’m going to see if I could create a custom gold-type set Dansco album for him
• I created a short video giving Joseph and JS coins a shoutout that you can check out here.

I enjoyed meeting all my chats with shop owners and seeing how they market their coin shops. Here’s to tomorrow!