My candidate is a store that was in the Knott's Berry Farm ghost town in Buena Park, California, in th 1950's. The man behind the counter was in western garb, complete with two six shooters in a holster! The coins were not much to brag about, and overpriced as you would expect in a tourist trap. What's your most unusual coin shop?
Geez, I don't know. They seem pretty staight laced 'round by me. No cowboy hats and six shooters but I do suspect that they keep most of the heavy artillary in the back room.
Back in my teens we had to walk up a flight of steps into a dingy, old, semi-dark room where the local coin dealer had his shop. He was in his 70's and even though his shop had seen better days he was there for us kids whether we were looking to sell or buy or just dropped by to talk. Can't ever forget this, my first foray into a coin shop.
Well, we used to have a shop that was half coin shop, half bead shop. Surprisingly, it was the only coin shop my wife looked forward to visiting with me, though she wasn't there for the coins. But, probably the most unusual was a coin shop that was inside a post office that also served as a coffee shop. That was in Belfort, France in the early 90's. Not sure if that worked out too well, but I hope it's still there. Guy~
At least the boysenberry pie rocked, and there was nothing but orange groves south of the 2 lane I-5. Irvine wasn't even a town, just a flight path for fighter jets.
I was traveling in south Texas years ago and found a cool little shop. It was a 10x12 shack on the side of the road with nothing else around it. A nice old guy ran the place. Had a great time just talking with him. I still have a medal from there. Someone could have put the whole building on a trailer and hauled it away.
In the big city by me there are so many odd ball stores it sometimes makes me really wonder just what kind of people are on this Earth. I remember one coin counter in a large store that carried coins, coin collecting items, stamps, baseballs, sports clothing and some items I really didn't even know what they were. I always liked the shoe repair and shoe shine place that had a sign in the window that said FINE CIGARS SOLD HERE. Popcorn store that specialized in popcorn and also sold Taffy Apples and Muffins. Restaurant and car wash in the same place with sign free wash with dinner. Lots of other odd places like those all over the place. When I was a kid there was a coin store/hair cut place together.
