Colonial Acres Coins is one of the leading numismatic firms in all of Canada. Their website is an industry favourite - giving
collectors the chance to safely purchase coins online along with access lots of helpful information. Colonial Acres deals in Canadian &
US coins and Paper Money, Gold & Silver as well as a full line of numismatic supplies. We also distribute Royal Canadian and United
States Mint Products. Colonial Acres participates in online auctions on Ebay and continues to provide our customers with great service
that they deserve.
Known as a time of peace in which the explosion of the Internet coincided with the emergence of grunge rock music, the 1990s were very much Todd
Sandham’s decade. That’s when the 35-year-old owner of Kitchener’s Colonial Acres Coins would whet his entrepreneurial appetite as an upstart coin
dealer while still doing homework as a Grade 10 high school student. He did so thanks to a cache of coins he found in the basement of his family
home.
"My dad used to collect in the ’60s, but he stopped when they changed the silver to nickel," says Sandham. "I found a whole box of his coin collection
and I knew Cameron (Bevers) collected coins and he got off the same bus stop as me and he convinced me to go with him to the coin club." The coin
club is, of course, the Waterloo Coin Club, the same club his dad attended three decades earlier. The friendship between Sandham and Bevers
solidified as they sorted through coins looking for those special ones. Sandham convinced his father that he could sell some of his old collection
and with the help of Bevers, the two launched their business. "We set up a table," recalls Sandham. "We were 16 and we sold $600. A couple of
dealers came up and showed some interest and from there we started going to Waterloo, Cambridge and Ingersoll coin clubs selling stuff."
Fond memories of their early days in numismatics prompted Sandham and Bevers to collaborate on a downtownretail shop, naming it after the Waterloo
subdivision - Colonial Acres - in which they were raised as boys and where Sandham’s mother still lives. Located at 300 Victoria St., just off of King
Street, Sandham and Bevers opened their store in 1996, while Sandham was studying civil engineering at the University of Waterloo. Bevers was at the
same school, but his area of study was economics and history.
The year 1998 was pivotal for Sandham, as that’s when he graduated from university and had to decide whether to explore engineering or stay with his
retail store. By that point, he’d been on a few work placements through school and he decided building roads and buildings wasn’t something he wanted
to do for the next 40 years.
"I was having too much fun doing coins," says Sandham. "We get a lot more interesting people coming in wanting to buy something and sell you something.
" In 2005, Bevers sold his interest in the store and went back to school for civil engineering.
Today, Sandham employs 14 people, thanks to his thriving mail-order business, which, like the store, deals in coins, paper money and gold and silver
bullion. Half of the employees are family members, including an uncle, Brent Parsons, sister Wendy Sandham, and partowner and cousin, Kirk Parsons.
Operating a business with family members has its challenges.
"There can be no favouritism," says Sandham. "When I’m working here, I’ve got to be fair to everybody. I try to pretend they’re not a family member
when they’re here."
Married since 2001, Sandham and his wife Brenda, a social worker, have a three-year-old daughter, Addison and one year-old son, Spencer. In his
leisure time, Sandham enjoys playing volleyball and baseball. And his coin collection has taken a hit.
"I did have a collection and then someone asks you for a coin and it’s in your collection and you end up selling it and then have no collection left,"
he laments. "Because my hobby turned into a full-time job, I’m still collecting coins,in a way."
Sandham especially enjoys replacement banknotes. He also likes to hunt for Canadian decimal or key date coins, such as the 1925 5-cent coin. Sandham
says he can purchase a 1924 5-cent piece for 35 cents, while its 1925 counterpart is $100, due to its scarcity.
While Sandham estimates it’s probably too late to enter the world of engineering now, he wouldn’t want to.
"I took a risk then and thought I’d do coins. It worked out better than I thought it would." As for telling his high school chums that he and Bevers
were dealing coins in the ’90s, when Nirvana and Game Boy were all the rage, there was little chance of that. Ridicule is a strong motivator. "I
wouldn’t tell a soul. Are you crazy? I had a part-time job at a Pizza Hut. I wouldn’t tell because they wouldn’t understand. It’s a niche market
and part of it is a security thing too. Next thing you know you’re getting robbed at your house."
Sandham understands that age-wise, he’s something of an anomaly in the business of numismatics. "I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I’m still one
of the youngest guys at the show."
