Does anyone remember Century Coins in Birmingham, AL that was owned by Tom Avery?

commoncents123

Just wondering if anyone from around here remembers that shop? I used to go in there when I was a kid. I miss the best coin shop on the planet & I miss Tom, the very nice, older white haired guy. He was very fair to everyone, even those who didn't have a clue and could have been easily taken advantage of. I believe firmly that this was the biggest reason for his success.

fivecents

Tom Avery was one of the most honest dealers in the business. He was numismatic royality in Birmingham. He had a VERY small coin shop...Century Coins in Eastwood Mall. Some great coins were bought and sold in his shop. Tom also left lots of meat on the bone with his coin prices. He was one of Val Webbs regular stops tobuy proof sets.
Tom Avery had a stroke a few months back. He and his wife moved out of state to be close to their son. last I heard Tom was not doing well at all.

JZrarities

I am so sorry to hear about Tom.

I used to frequent his shop in the late 1970's early 80's and I think it was in the Century Plaza Mall (Century Coins)
Eastwood Mall was down the hill, where we used to Cruise on Friday nights...sigh.

Jeff
Hewitt Trussville High School, 1983

Jwillie33

I remember that shop. That mall was the closest to our house and both of my kids went to Shades Valley HS. I know I bought some baseball cards there, but don't remember the owner.

segoja

I too visited Tom in my early days of having a few real dollars after getting a real job after college.

He is and was a good guy!

commoncents123

Yeah, nice to see some of you here. He owned Century coins in Century Plaza...had a small desk with 2 chairs, and that was it. I probably wouldn't be into coins had it not been for him actually. Ah, that was all pre-internet too, a very different time for our hobby. Terrible to hear about his health.

jdimmick

Years ago, When I used to work for the Dept of Housing, I used to frequent Birmingham airport often, I would always make a point to stop early on thursday before heading back to the airport and stop at his shop , even if just for a half hour.

fivecents

Tom used to always call me TallPaul. Everytime I would come in his shop Tom and Larry would Yell "TallPaul" very loudly, they would do the same at the local coin shows.
Tom Avery hooked a lot of people up with some VERY nice coins that walked in his shop. Tom is one dealer who truely never collected coins. Every coin he bought was resold at a modest premium. Birmingham Alabama needs another dealer like Tom. A dealer that sells on tight margins and leaves some meat on the bone for the local collectors.

Tassa

Paul, sorry to hear that about Tom. When I lived down there I had heard many Birmingham area collectors and dealers mention his name and talk of his shop and I had always heard only very positive things about him.

Fayeilding

Bumping a super old thread.

Century Coins & Stamps in Century Plaza was what hooked me on baseball cards.

Tom was a family friend & was a genuinely honest and wonderful person.

I miss him, he is a special part of my childhood.

grip

I did not know him, but sounds like a wonderful person.
I wish him well.

alohagary

Wish I met him

Yorkshireman

I met Tom. My father bought most of his coins from Tom. Nice gentleman.
Great to see some central Alabama folks here. Trying to meet more collectors in this area.
If you live around Birmingham and are open to conversations, PM me.

tommy44

An old thread started way before my time on the forum but it brought back fond memories of Tom.

He would always show up at shows in Atlanta in the mid-70s through early 80s. I have an old "store card" token somewhere advertising his Birmingham shop. Very friendly, always had time for everyone, fair buy and sell prices.

Here's a link to his April 2010 obituary. Never knew he was born in Atlanta, maybe that's why he came to the shows here all the time.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/thomas-avery-obituary?pid=141656169&view=guestbook

Walkerguy21D

My sister and her son are down here (in FL) from Birmingham for a little R&R over the holiday weekend.
My brother in law died in March and we were up there for the funeral. Very nice area. I've dealt with some of the dealers in that area over the years, but don't specifically recall Tom Avery.
Sounds like he was a great guy.

Yorkshireman - next time I'm up that way, I will send you a PM.

hookooekoo

I remember walking by Tom's store in Century Plaza as a kid, but that was decades before I became a coin collector...

However, in a similar vein, does anyone know what happen to Doug's Coin in Homewood, AL?
Doug was my version of "Tom" when I started collecting almost 20 years ago... but I had fallen "out of circulation" for a while and tried to go to Doug's shop for the 1st time in many years. Since it was still listed in the online, I was surprised to get there and find it closed down. From the looks of things, it hasn't been closed for long.

amwldcoin

Doug closed his shop...said he was retiring but didn't! He is now working with Ethan a little in his shop. He is still going to shows.

@hookooekoo said:
I remember walking by Tom's store in Century Plaza as a kid, but that was decades before I became a coin collector...

However, in a similar vein, does anyone know what happen to Doug's Coin in Homewood, AL?
Doug was my version of "Tom" when I started collecting almost 20 years ago... but I had fallen "out of circulation" for a while and tried to go to Doug's shop for the 1st time in many years. Since it was still listed in the online, I was surprised to get there and find it closed down. From the looks of things, it hasn't been closed for long.

hookooekoo

@amwldcoin said:
Doug closed his shop...said he was retiring but didn't! He is now working with Ethan a little in his shop. He is still going to shows.

Good to hear and thank's for the update.

Since it's been almost 10 years since I was in Doug's shop, I figured there was a good chance he might have decided to retire... but I headed on down to the shop since I could still find it listed in online yellow pages.