When you walk through the doors at SilverTowne, the first place you will find yourself is in the retail showroom. With a large selection of coins and precious metals to offer across our display cases, there is something for coin collectors and investors at every level—from beginners to experts.
As part of honoring and celebrating our 75th anniversary this year, we decided to introduce each department at SilverTowne and their key roles operating the business from day-to-day. A great starting point? The first faces you will see as you walk into the retail space.
Nikki – Retail Manager
With 13 years in the retail space at SilverTowne, Nikki has been a major contributor to the everyday operations of buying and selling across the front counter. From numismatics to precious metals, new and returning customers can sell or buy a plethora of items. Depending on the time of year or how the market is performing, we do one or the other more often.
“It varies for sure,” Nikki said. “Three years ago, we were buying more than selling and I don’t think I need to remind anyone what was happening in the world three years ago. Currently we are buying and selling about the same amount.
Even if you leave our store not having done either, there is a lot to take in as we are proud to showcase our Czechoslovakian chandelier which is made from 7,775 cut crystals that are reportedly the finest available today. We also gladly show off our solid oak staircase custom made in Wisconsin and brought in by truck and assembled on site. Also on site are many antiques and collectibles brought in from all over the United States in addition to several family photos and heirlooms, all of which add to the allure and history of SilverTowne.
Readily available in the display cases are a wide variety of numismatic offerings from coins to currency, a lot of which are purchased from customers in that very space. In addition, we showcase our silver bullion made at the SilverTowne Mint across town. Our exclusive collection features special occasion pieces offered year-round, including our limited edition dual dated 1949-2024 SilverTowne 75 years Buffalo Replica 1oz .999 Silver Medallion.
“It’s incredibly impressive to work for a company that has been around for 75 years,” Nikki stated. “It says a lot about the integrity of the company because you do not see that very often when it comes to small businesses.”
Rita – Gold Buying Specialist/Wholesale/Retail
Offering a large selection of precious metals is an integral part of how we operate. While we have our own bullion, we still make available world bullion and secondary market metals. This includes silver, gold, and platinum.
“We offer gold coins, bars, and secondary market options,” Rita said. “This includes from all over the world, which expands the variety of what we have been able to offer all these years.”
All gold bullion (bars or coins) that are sold by SilverTowne are purchased directly from the originating mint or one of their approved distributors. We 100% guarantee the weight, purity, and quality when purchasing from SilverTowne.
“When customers call for availability, we always try to work with them as best we can,” Rita stated. “Depending on the market and supply and demand, we really try to keep the customer from looking elsewhere if we can. If they call and are looking for something we don’t have, we will look around and find it for them. Nine times out of ten we can track it down.”
Gold purchases can be tricky in the market, that is why we have customers call us. To reduce fraud, most gold products are not listed as available on our website. When retail customers place an order, prices are calculated on a ‘price per ounce’ basis and are formed around the current spot price of gold during the time the order is placed. We lock in your price no matter how the spot price fluctuates afterwards.
Investors often choose gold bullion and coins to diversify their portfolio, which is why we have and always will place such high importance on making it available to our customers.
“It has been such a blessing to work for this company for over 40 years,” said Rita. “The people are amazing to work for and I’ve now been working for three different generations. The fourth generation is someone I work alongside now. It’s an honor and a blessing.”
Tony/Payne – Front Counter Sales/Collections/Estates
One of the faces you will see walking through the front door is Payne, the great-grandson to late founders Leon and Ruhama Hendrickson, and son of third generation numismatist and television host for The Coin Vault, Andy Abel. Now with three years under his belt working with customers across the counter, the fourth-generation numismatist buys, sells, and helps his grandfather, Tony Abel, with larger collections and estates.
“I enjoy helping with collections the most,” Payne said. “My advice to anyone looking to bring something in, just make sure if it’s larger than a shoebox, make an appointment. Earlier in the day is always best and having some sort of organization would be extremely helpful to ensure that the appointment runs smoothly from the start.”
Bigger collections are usually something for which we require an appointment. During those appointments, we give customers a detailed list of the value of each coin in their collection and the price we are willing to pay for it. We then give them the option to take it home because of wanting to talk it over or if they just needed to know what they had value-wise. It is then that we would charge an hourly appraisal fee. Customers also have the option to sell it right then to us if they feel comfortable enough to do so. If the collection is sold to us, the appraisal fee is waived. Should a customer have an appraisal done, pay the appraisal fee, and then later decide to sell the collection to us, the appraisal fee is refunded.
“Most collections that we see are coins,” Tony, son-in-law to the late Leon and Ruhama Hendrickson, said. “A lot of collectors are men, so those collections are brought in mostly by widows or children. We buy 90%, 40%, sterling silver (flatware), rare coins, precious metals, scrap gold (damaged/broken jewelry/dental gold), Proof and Mint sets, currency, etc.”
While we may purchase many items, there are several we do not, including foreign coinage and coins with modern or vintage errors. In addition, we are not interested in coinage like Statehood quarters, Presidential dollars, Native American dollars, Bicentennial quarters and halves, and more. The reason is that we find they are worth only their face value.
“Depending on how large the collections are, we are also willing to travel,” said Tony. “It is not as common, but we do try to work with everyone.”
Having been around for 75 years, collections are a major part of how we do business in the retail shop. We buy AND sell, and we mean that. We work with customers as best we can and find that honesty has always helped us develop those transactional relationships.
“I’ve been fortunate in getting to work for my father-in-law (Leon),” Tony stated. “I started here full time in 1984 and I learned so much from him. My mother-in-law (Ruhama) was firm but fair. Now I get to work with my sons and nephews and as of the past few years, my grandsons.”
One of those grandsons works right beside him daily.
“It’s impressive to see how far the business has come and what it’s been through,” Payne said. “It’s had its peaks and valleys as all businesses do, but it has survived it all. I’m proud to be a part of the family business and look forward to the next 75 years.”
