You are rummaging around on a quiet Saturday afternoon, up in your grandparent’s attic, as you often do finding heirloom clothing, old artifacts and other fascinating items from long ago. When, behind some rafters, you spot 2 shoe boxes which you have never seen before. You approach the boxes gingerly, curious as to what mysteries they might hold. As you slowly open the first box you immediately recognize the hundreds of baseball cards, all carefully stacked together, and while you are no expert of vintage baseball cards you instinctively know you are on to something. You then open the 2nd box and to your astonishment, see silver coins, gold coins, bills and stamps all carefully wrapped and neatly arranged in the show box.
You scamper down the attic’s fold-up stairs and find your grandfather in the living room and present the 2 shoe boxes full of the new-found-treasures. Your grandfather admits to totally forgetting about these 2 boxes that, many years ago he had received from his father, and states forcefully, “Let’s take these to Centralia Coin, Stamp, ETC. and see what we got,” over at 528 West McCord in Centralia, IL.
Meet Blake Griffin, 53, the store’s amiable and community-minded proprietor, who will be able to tell them the value of their new-found treasure discovered in the attic.
The adventure began in 1989, when Mr. Griffin’s father, Dan, a life-long stamp collector, began collecting stamps and coins going to coin shows, in Paducah, KY for instance and was inspired by his grandfather’s original interest in stamp collecting.
His father was a history teacher at Centralia High School, earning his teaching certificate at Greenville College in Greenville, IL and eventually his Superintendent degree and had a stellar career as a Superintendent at all 3 places; Kell Grade School, the Central City Grade School and eventually of Centralia city schools. And as Mr. Griffin noted, “My Dad had a security installation business on the side.”
Mr. Griffin was born in Centralia and attended Centralia High School before graduating and heading off to Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (SIU-C) graduating in 1995 with a Business Management degree. He began his working career with local hotelier Bruce Geary, learning the hospitality trade from this successful and well-known Centralia business executive who passed away in 2013. He worked for Mr. Geary from 1997 to 2013, while, at the time, the coin shop that his father was running was just a part-time business.
As Mr. Griffin explained, “We were open just 3 days a week and on Saturdays but in 2013 I went full time in the business’s original 600 square foot location 330 West Broadway.” Part of the incentive to go out full time on his own was the passing of Mr.Geary, his beloved mentor and boss.
When asked how he learned the complexities of the stamp, coin, baseball trading cards and other memorabilia he explained, “Learning the business came naturally to me. And my father always told me to ‘Buy what you like’ which has served me well all these years in business.”
He enjoys the coin side of the business and not so much the precious metals but they are an important part of the industry so stays current with all of the latest metal price fluctuations. Gold for instance, in these highly volatile political times.
During the interview, the store phone rang constantly with collectors chatting with Mr. Griffin about a recent coin, stamp or baseball trading card they had come across and with ease and clear knowledge he gave them potential cost values of these precious items. Much of his business is from ardent collectors and his reputation for honesty, integrity and fair pricing has earned him the trust and confidence of collectors throughout the entire Southern Illinois region.
He is happily married to Lori Griffin, 50, who teaches chemistry at Centralia High School where in fact they first met and began dating in 1999. It is interesting to note that educators run through the family, a testament to their commitment to a well-educated and informed community.
They have 2 boys, Bradley, 23, a Chemical Engineer at Marathon Oil and Lane, 20, an engineering student at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIU-E).
The family attends Calumet Street Christian Church and for fun they love to travel having recently returned from a fishing trip in the wilds of Canada. But more importantly, they love family and hanging around the backyard pool on hot summer months.
But there is another, civically-engaged facet to Mr. Griffin that is worth noting. He has served on the Centralia City School Board for over 20+ years and as an interesting political observation almost none of the elected school board members are challenged for reelection. A clear testament to how successfully the team of 7 school board members have guided the city’s educational system, especially in these fractious times of political volatility in many school boards across the country.
As he noted, “By serving on the local school board, this is my way to give,” and he has certainly done that for over 20 years.
Mr. Griffin did note that he was recruited and asked to run for the Centralia City Council in 2021 and served 2 years before returning to his beloved school board where he feels he can make the most civic difference in his small-town community.
When asked how he feels about the once-thriving Centralia business community and the challenges these small, hollowed-out Midwestern towns now feel he explained, “We will never again be a thriving manufacturing town like we were in the past. But perhaps we can become a retirement destination in the future. We have 3 incredible lakes and people love to fish. And we have Foundation and Fairview Parks.”
Mr. Griffin and his family are deeply rooted in Centralia and only gives much more than he receives. These are the type of citizens who make these small-town Midwestern communities vibrant. And when you find that old shoe box in the attic, take it to Mr. Griffin to evaluate this new-found treasure. You will not be disappointed.
Their website is: centraliacoin.com. 618-533-4200 work.
(This week’s photo is by Laurel Dingman) If you know of someone interesting we should interview, please contact us at gettingtoknowyoucolumn@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you.