The Story of Furio Troiano the Wood Craftsman Who from the Balconies of Abruzzo Has Conquered Princes and Presidents

A Coin from the Earth

It was a day like any other, in the 1980s, in Montesilvano. A child sitting watching his grandfather hoe the earth. And then, the miracle: from the damp clod of soil something metallic emerged, ancient, precious. An Arab silver coin. Furio Troiano’s first contact with buried history, with the value of time, with the passion that would change his life. «I still have that coin» he says today, decades later. «And I wouldn’t sell it for a million euros. Maybe.» He smiles. The smile of someone who knows that certain treasures are priceless. This is the story of how a coin found by chance generated a company that today serves presidents, princes, museums and collectors around the world. It is the story of Furio Troiano, the wood goldsmith who transformed numismatic collecting into Italian art of excellence.

The Roots: Between Mother’s Wood and Grandfather’s Earth

Born in Pescara on 18 June 1978, Furio grows up in Montesilvano, that strip of Adriatic coast where Abruzzo meets the sea. His mother sells fine furniture, his father is an agricultural surveyor. But it is his maternal grandfather who marks little Furio’s destiny. «I spent afternoons with him, watching him work the land. That day the clod gave way and out came it: my first coin. From there I started asking all my relatives if they had any ancient coins to give me.» The collection grows, accumulated with childhood innocence. The grandparents advise: put them in vinegar, put them in Coca-Cola. Today Furio smiles at those mistakes, but at the time they were the secrets of family tradition. The real awakening comes when his grandfather takes him to the coin dealer in Pescara, the elderly man who still today, handed down through generations, runs the shop in the city centre. The man looks at the boy’s collection and tells him a phrase Furio has never forgotten: «These coins have a very great value. That of the passion for history.» Not economic value. The value of passion. A life lesson.

Training: Surveyor, Waiter, Carpenter

School is not Furio’s strong point. He leaves the technical secondary school in his second year, «out of necessity» as he puts it. Waiting tables, washing dishes, working in bars and restaurants in Pescara. But wood calls. The passion inherited from his mother the furniture seller, daily contact with fine materials, the manual skills developed through humble work. He becomes a specialist carpenter. He learns to know wood in its essence: the smell, the grain, the resistance, the history that every plank carries with it. Then, the evolution: the DIY sector. Sales assistant, then head of the wood/construction department in a large chain. But his heart beats elsewhere. «The passion for coins and for the historical unknown beneath our feet has never faded.»

The Meeting and the Spark

Among the aisles of a supermarket, in the food department, he meets her. His wife. His life companion and adventure partner. Soon the first child arrives, then the second, then the third. Three boys, «volcanoes of ideas» as he describes them today. The salary as DIY manager is no longer enough. Eight years of career, but the family grows and so do the expenses. It is around 2009 when, looking at the collection piled in a drawer, Furio has the intuition: «I should organise these coins.» He searches for cases, display stands, coin holders. He finds only plastic products, of poor quality and made with solvents and chemical products. Furio knows that these products are not suitable for perfect conservation and so, with woodworking experience, calloused hands, the courage of one who has nothing to lose, he decides: «I’ll make it myself.»

The Winter Balcony: The Birth of a Dream

The first little box is born outside the home balcony. Winter. Cold. Few tools. «It was a bit rough, handmade, but I made it.» The satisfaction is immense. He publishes photos on Facebook, where he has several collector friends. The reaction is immediate: «Make one for me too. Make one for me too.» It begins like this, timidly. During lunch breaks, in the evenings after work, in time stolen from rest. A craftsman’s approach, not an entrepreneur’s. But destiny knocks hard: a well-known Sicilian coin dealer contacts him. «You do wonderful work. Nobody does it in Italy. I would like…» and commissions a coin chest. Furio spends days outside on the balcony, in the cold, building that precious object. When he finishes, he publishes the photos. And there, at that moment, the spark ignites. The launch pad: requests increase exponentially. Six months later free time is no longer enough, a choice had to be made: he quits his secure job, his permanent contract, his guaranteed income. To follow a passion. To build a dream. To dare. «A friend said to me: are you crazy? How many collectors do you think there are in the world?» Furio smiles remembering. «I stood firm and certain and said: I don’t know. But to get out of the ditch you have to jump in. And I believe in my craftsmanship and professionalism.»

The Garage: Years of Ice and Fire

The first three years of Coins&More — even though it wasn’t called that yet — take place in a garage of 25 square metres. No heating. Freezing winters, sweltering summers. Furio, his wife, and an assistant who believes in the project. «I know that telling it nobody believes it, but that’s really how it went. Three people in 25 square metres, working wood, sending parcels, answering customers. Summers, winters, always there.» His wife, shortly after, also quits her job to help him. It is an act of total faith. Of love. Of shared vision. The first customers arrive, then the first foreign customers, then the first special requests. Word of mouth works. Quality speaks. Solid wood, Italian velvet, artisan care make the difference. «The thought ‘we can do it, it works’ is always there. Even now. Every time we create, thanks to my precious staff.»

Growth: From Garage to World

In 2022, after years of sacrifice, the leap comes. Requests grow every day, the garage shell has become too tight. Furio purchases a slightly larger premises, then even larger. Today Coins&More counts 7 employees, plus himself and his wife. Three girl and three boy craftspeople, «brilliant and skilled, capable of creating everything my mind elaborates». Furio handles design, personalised requests, new products. His wife is the operational part of the entire supply chain. «I no longer have much time as a working craftsman. I’ve become like the inventor of Harley Davidson: at the beginning it was just him, now it’s no longer him who produces them, but his entire staff perfectly trained to offer a product of excellence.» And adds, with pride: «I am Furio Troiano, and Coins&More is the Harley Davidson of collecting, it’s not for everyone and not everyone likes it.»

Clients: From San Giovanni Teatino to Mattarella

The client list sounds like a who’s who of international collecting. Princes scattered across the globe. Prestigious auction houses. Important museums such as the Paestum archaeological park museum or the Ivan Bruschi Museum in Arezzo where two magnificent pieces can still be admired, and then the Italian Army. NATO. The main European armed forces, props for films, display stand for ASI plate on the Amerigo Vespucci and important collaborations with companies such as Bolaffi and Pineider, as well as international artistic productions, up to the ICA in London. Important collaborations such as that with Artist Tanoa Sasraku who created a highly significant artistic installation using Coins&More trays at the modern art museum in London: details here https://www.coinsandmore.it/tanoa-sasraku-e-made-in-italy-di-coinsmore/ And then, the pinnacle: for Italy’s highest institution, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, 2 display cases to preserve Italian flags, one for the president and one for NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana on the occasion of NATO’s 70th anniversary. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF0UqTBavL0 «We have made furniture and display stands for important artists, auction houses, museums and veritable princes — we could name very many. But every customer, large or small, receives the same treatment: maximum quality, maximum care, the product signed Furio Troiano.»

The Philosophy: No Plastics, No Waste, Only Soul

I ask Furio if he has ever been tempted to compromise on quality. To use MDF instead of solid wood. Synthetic velvet instead of Italian. Production abroad to lower costs. The answer is immediate, firm, almost offended: «NEVER.» «My vision is to use increasingly fine materials and increasingly beautiful and demanding workmanship. Not to increase prices: we keep entry level and base products of high quality at popular prices. The goal is to find the maximum of perfection, in sustainable respect for nature.» Then he lists, like a mantra: «Into Coins&More enter no plastics, agglomerates, veneered woods that beneath their surface are just chipboard waste.» This is the red line. The inviolable boundary. The identity.

The Future: One Small Step at a Time

Despite the success, Furio keeps his feet on the ground. Plans for international expansion exist, but «we always take one small step at a time». The children? The three boys, the volcanoes of ideas? «They will have to make their own way. Not necessarily follow mine. But if it ever were to happen, I’m sure the success will continue from generation to generation. Because good blood doesn’t lie.» And if tomorrow, for any reason, the business were to cease? «My satisfaction will be that thousands of customers around the world have a product signed Furio Troiano. And they will pass it on from generation to generation.»

Memento Audere Semper: The Motto of a Life

Memento audere semper. Remember to always dare. The motto of Furio Troiano, borrowed from his mentor Gabriele D’Annunzio, the poet-patriot from Pescara who made Italy great in the world. This is the common thread of a life: audacity. The courage to leap into the void, knowing that fear is in the jump, not in the flight. Furio’s advice to those who want to start today is simple, direct, like him: «Believe in yourselves and in your abilities. Whatever your dream, pursue it. And always dare. Fear is in the jump, not in the flight!»

The Wood Craftsman

From that child who watched his grandfather hoe the earth, to today. From that Arab coin found by chance, to coin holders for presidents and princes. From the freezing 25 square metre garage, to the workshops where craftsmen realise his thoughts. Furio Troiano has built more than a company. He has built a bridge between past and future, between earth and art, between passion and profession. He has shown that Italian craftsmanship, the real kind, made of solid wood and authentic velvet, of sleepless nights and unshakeable faith, can conquer the world. One coin holder at a time. One customer at a time. One dream at a time. Memento audere semper.

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Tags: #FurioTroiano #CoinsAndMore #ArtigianatoItaliano #MadeInItaly #Numismatica #Collezionismo #StoriaImpresa #Abruzzo #Pescara #Montesilvano #MementoAudereSemper #ArtigianoDelLegno #HarleyDavidsonDelCollezionismo © Coins&More. All rights reserved.