In Search of Coins, Stamps and Gems

When you hear your child say that his or her hobby is playing video games, and the pinging sound of Super Mario Brothers wakes you up every morning before the alarm clock, it’s time for drastic action--like a new hobby. And this is the weekend to find one.

The Pasadena Center, 300 E. Green St., hosts two separate, two-day shows: the Pasadena Pavilion Coin and Stamp Expo and the American Gem and Mineral Suppliers Assn. Gem Show. Both are happy hunting grounds for would-be hobbyists in search of just the right hobby.

Buffalo Nickels and Mercury Dimes

The coin and stamp show, sponsored by Century Stamp and Coin Co., features 60 dealers, with items for sale for prices ranging from 10 cents to $10,000. In the 10-cent-to-$5 category, there are coin dealers with buffalo nickels and Mercury dimes. Some dealers sell supplies, such as “flips” (plastic coin holders).

Stamps are from 3 cents to $500. There are many stamp books of particular interest to beginning collectors in the 5-to-11 age range.

A great introduction to stamp collecting is a set that comes with books, loose stamps to sort and affix on the proper pages, hinges and tongs.

Coin-and-stamp-show hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $1. The show takes place in the lower level of the Conference Building at Green Street and Euclid Avenue.

Minerals and Jewelry

At the gem and mineral show, in the center’s exhibition hall at Green Street and Marengo Avenue, more than 50 dealers will display minerals, jewelry and--what seems to interest the kids--geodes and fossils.

Prices begin at 50 cents and dealers will explain what each item is and how it got that way. There will also be demonstrations of stone carving and a video on rock cutting and polishing.

Admission to the gem show is $3 for adults, free to children 11 and under. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Information on both shows: (818) 793-2122.