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Business & Tech

South County Coin Dealer Rides the Wave of Change

Bill Smith, owner of South County Coin & Jewelry makes a living by embracing all things old and new.

For Bill Smith, owner of located at 3325 Lemay Ferry Road, everything new is changing at the speed of light.

The onslaught of technological advances over the past decade has impacted nearly everything we do. To Smith, daily interactions and transactions have gone from personal and predictable to digital and detached.

Smith explains it by reminiscing about the days when the mailman had to communicate with the milkman to get up the hill to the widow's house in the dead of winter.

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“Now that’s all gone by the way of horse and buggy,” he said. “When I was a child, things were steady. Gas prices didn’t move up and down. You didn’t go to the grocery store to find that the price of eggs changed. Now, you never know from day to day. Everything is up for bid.”

But since 1976, Smith has made it his life’s work to authenticate the true artifacts of our nation and help preserve the notions that make them precious.

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The reasons he loves his work are clear.

“It’s very select. How many coin dealers do you know?” he asks. “It’s between my ears. You could lock me away for 20 years and I’d still know rare coins.”

As an authenticator, he ponders these questions daily, “Is it what it says it is? Does it appear to be something else?”

Born in Kirkwood and raised in St. Louis City, Smith graduated from Southwest High School in 1970. Working since he was 12 years old, Smith learned early on the value of hard work.

“I was one of 10 kids. When I was a kid, I didn’t go the grocery store to get something,” he said of the instant gratification generation of today. “I was there to haul groceries. Nowadays, how do you differentiate between Christmas and every other time of year when kids get everything they want?”

After high school, Smith attended Forest Park Community College by day. By night, he took work restoring carriage houses in the Central West End.

Upon the suggestion of a work acquaintance, Smith boldly asked for a position as a metallurgist with the Carondelet Foundry.

“I had gotten that job by asking for it,” Smith said. “But working in the foundry, unless you were an engineer, I could see the end of the road.”

That’s when the coin world Smith opened up for him.

His brother-in-law worked for Joseph’s Coin.

“So I went to work for him on a Saturday as a part-time gig,” he said.

Smith immediately became enamored.

“I loved the uniqueness of it. I loved the niche,” he said. “I worked two Saturdays and decided to quit my job and go to work for him full-time. I took a $100 a week cut in pay, worked six days a week instead of five and had two children and an apartment.”

It was a leap of faith. But for this self-described “Landfill Preventer,” it was worth the risk.

A quick glance around his shop reveals that the value of items has not been lost on him. There is a plethora of old Folgers Coffee cans filled to the brim with pennies labeled, “20s,” “30s,” “40s,” and so on.

Framed sheets of two and five dollar bills grace the walls. Antique pocket watches and modern style diamond rings are proudly displayed in cases.

Through the years, Smith has seen his share of changes. People are no longer avid stamp collectors. Since 1995, the United States Mint has cut the penny production in half. He contends that mass marketing has caused an over-flooded market where items no longer have the value they once had.

He believes that there is “no attachment” and “no feeling” left to items such as the classic American automobile or icon television shows anymore.

But he also knows that change is inevitable.

“Not everybody accepts it, but the power to (do so) is unique,” he said.

The upside is that this business had afforded him a good living.

“I’ve educated two children and I have a succession plan,” he said, explaining that his daughter is moving from Kansas City to take over the family business.

“This generation,” he said, “has not seen a lot of this stuff yet,” referring to the mass quantity of items gathered by the World War II generation.

And although technology and behavior is sure to continue to affect change, he knows one thing for sure.

“It’s not about the quantity. It’s about the quality,” he said. “It’s true in jewelry and it’s true in anything.”

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