Tuesday through Friday 9:30-5:00, Saturday 9:30-4:00, closed Sunday and Monday

Owner: Tom Mulrooney

Broadway Coin and Stamp is located across the street from Sam's Convenience Store. From Springfield, go down Liberty Street which becomes Broadway when it enters Chicopee. The store is about two miles further on the left. From the Mass Pike, take Exit 5. Bear right onto the divided highway. Go to the end of the highway and at the lights look left to see a bridge. Go over the bridge and up the hill and bear right at the Central Baptist Church. The store is 200 yards further on the right.

Click here for a Mapquest map.

Tom started collecting when he was about eight years old, and became a dealer for reasons many coin collectors will understand. "I started dealing in 1971 because everything I wanted cost more than I could afford. As a dealer I could own any coin for a short time and have the pleasure of saying 'I had one of those once' even if I couldn't keep it."

He started at Fanny's Flea Market at the mall every Sunday. On March 1, 1981 Tom and his partner Dave Cornell opened their well-stocked, well-organized store in Chicopee Falls. "I wanted to make it a more permanent full-time business - plus I needed the extra room! I couldn't keep it all in the house."

At first, Tom tended to concentrate on stamps and on US coins, while Dave specialized more in foreign coins and jewelry, though both partners were active in all aspects of the business. They did it successfully, too: though it opened its doors at the start of a very long, difficult period for the coin market, Broadway Coin and Stamp survived and flourished. Dave recently retired from the store and moved to Florida, but from time to time he comes back to Massachusetts and he remains active in coins. Tom and his wife Kathy now operate the store.

Tom buys and sells stamps, coins and jewelry and appraises collections for estates and attorneys. He is a strong buyer and is always interested in looking at accumulations and collections. "Usually my customers stay with me because of the grading and also the prices are fair. We also try to run the business as a Christian business, in a Christian manner - which may scare some people away! We try to be fair in all our dealings as a Christian should." In order to observe the Sabbath, Tom no longer attends Sunday coin shows.

A visit to Broadway rewards the collector with a comprehensive and well-organized selection of coins and stamps. Tom's specialty is "everything." As an example of the selection and organization, let me tell you a story. I am looking for uncirculated early clad Washington quarters. When I asked Tom for the book of common clad quarters, it turned out that the eight-inch, hefty tome of plastic pages he handed me was Book 2 in the series. To get the dates I was looking for, I needed Book 1 - another eight-inch volume with dates from 1965 to 1984. Everything was labeled, priced, and organized. That's the way everything at Broadway is, and there's a good junk box too.

Tom is a member of the ANA, APS, CWTS, IBNS, INS, MACD, NENA and TAMS.