Dec. 28—Dusty old comic books and passed down family antiques might be worth more than you think.
Held at Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Albuquerque Midtown from Friday, Jan. 3 to Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, the Coin-Stamp & Collectible Expo is the perfect time to evaluate curios and currency and see what their true worth is.
The expo will feature 60 dealers from nine different states, who will appraise, sell and buy collectibles onsite.
“We’ve got dealers coming from coast to coast from New York to California and we’ll have over 75 tables,” said John Krist, founder of the expo.
Originally, the expo was set to have 31 dealers but expanded when they realized this would be the first collectible expo of the year nationwide.
“All the dealers want to start the new year off at the first show in that scene,” Krist said.
Dealers will be offering a wide variety of collectibles such as baseball cards, stamps and postcards, jewelry and Kachina dolls.
“A lot of people inherit stamps from their parents or grandparents and they don’t collect them so they just sit in the attic or garage and they’ll bring that stuff,” Krist said. “One person got $10,000 for a box of stamps so they were real happy.”
Appraisals will be offered to all guests who bring items.
“If you just want an appraisal, you just bring your item and then one of our workers will direct you to the person that appraises that stuff and they’ll give you a free appraisal, a verbal one,” Krist said. “Same thing if you want to sell stuff, they’ll direct you to stamp dealers or postcard dealers, they’ll find a place just where you don’t have to wander around with all your stuff, you can bring it directly to them.”
At a previous expo event, a woman brought in a 1932 quarter. She had the coin appraised at another dealer in town and it only offered her $100 for the item. When she took it to the Coin-Stamp & Collectible Expo, the item was valued at nearly $5,000, Krist said.
From grandparents to grandchildren, people of all ages attend the Coin-Stamp & Collectible Expo. There is a kid’s zone with games for children. Youth can also walk around the expo and be quizzed at participating dealer booths and earn a token for a correct answer.
The expo will also host a canned food drive. Guests who bring in a canned food item will receive one free collectible. The canned food will be donated to local food pantries and churches around Albuquerque.
“We have a list of three or four places we donate to and if they overflow with food we go down to the next one,” Krist said. “At the end, we take it to Victory Outreach and they’ll always take it because they have a men’s and women’s home for recovering addicts so they’re always cooking at their facility.”
Krist continues the expo in hopes that the tradition of collecting will be passed on from generation to generation.
“If you don’t keep collecting going to the next generation, your hobby will just die out,” he said. “It’s good for our economy too because people rent hotels to come down. And if somebody gets $10,000 (for an item they brought to the expo), that’s $10,000 they can spend in the community.”