Hundreds of coin connoisseurs and collectors flocked to the Texarkana Texas Convention Center Saturday, to check out some rare and vintage copper and silver pieces at the 48th Annual Texarkana Coin Show.
Texarkana Coin Show Bourse Chairman Frank McFerrin said this year marks the first year the show's been scheduled in the fall.
"Through the years, we've held these shows in the spring, but this year, we decided to hold it closer to holiday season and so far, it's done well," he said.
McFerrin added that the annual event usually attracts between 200 and 500 visitors.
"We have been holding the show inside the contention center ever since the center opened at least six years ago - and it's proven to be a great place for the show,"McFerrin said.
Prior to holding the shows at the convention center, McFerrin said they used to be held at Texarkana College's Truman Arnold Student Center for about three years as well as being held at Sheraton Hotel and at the old YMCA building for a number of years.
"We also held the shows at public schools, like North Heights Junior High School," he added.
Beside the show, McFerrin said the event's organizers continue have coin evaluators - who can give coin collectors an assessed value of their collection if they would like it.
McFerrin also said that most coin collectors nowadays, tend to be men who are middle age and older, however, he added that the number of women coin collectors has grown substantially within the last 15 to 20 years.
"Right now, I would say that of the coin collectors we have - about 60 percent of them are men and 40 percent women," he said. "Prior to about 1978, it was about 80 percent male and 20 percent female."
Some of the more collectible coins include copper pennies, which ceased being produced in 1982, as well as pennies produced out of lead during World War II.
While this annual event generally has American coins on display by vendors, McFerrin said there are a few foreign coins as well as vintage American coins - some dating back more then 200 years.
"We have some coins here that date back to our colonial days - and even some that go as far back as the days of Christ," he said.