The story of Furio Troiano and the birth of Coins&More , From the Balconies of Abruzzo Conquered Princes and Presidents

A Coin from the Earth

It was a day like any other, in the 1980s, in Montesilvano. A child sitting and watching his grandfather hoe the soil. And then, the miracle: from the damp clod of earth, something metallic appeared—ancient, precious. An Arab silver plate. 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 even for a million euros. Maybe.” He smiles. The smile of someone who knows that certain treasures have no price.

This is the story of how a coin found by chance generated a company that today serves presidents, princes, museums, and collectors all over the world. It is the story of Furio Troiano, the wood goldsmith who turned numismatic collecting into Italian excellence.

The Roots: Between His Mother’s Wood and His Grandfather’s Land

Born in Pescara on June 18, 1978, Furio grows up in Montesilvano, that stretch of Adriatic coast where Abruzzo meets the sea. His mother sells high-end furniture, his father is an agricultural surveyor. But it is his maternal grandfather who marks the destiny of young Furio.

“I spent my afternoons with him, I watched him work the land. That day the clod gave way and out came her: my first coin. From there I started asking all my relatives if they had ancient coins to give me.”

The collection grows, built with the innocence of childhood. The grandparents advise: put them in vinegar, put them in Coca-Cola. Today Furio smiles at those mistakes, but back then they were the secrets of family tradition.

The real awakening comes when his grandfather takes him to the numismatist in Pescara—an elderly man whose shop, still today, has been passed down generation after generation in the city center. The man looks at the boy’s makeshift collection and says a sentence Furio has never forgotten: “These coins have a very great value. The value of passion for history.”

Not the economic value. The value of passion. A lesson in life.

Training: Surveyor, Waiter, Carpenter

School is not Furio’s strong point. He leaves the surveying high school in his second year, “out of necessity,” as he says. Waiting tables, washing dishes, working in bars and restaurants in Pescara. But wood calls. The passion inherited from a mother who sold furniture, the daily contact with fine materials, the hands-on skill developed in humble jobs.

He becomes a specialized carpenter. He learns wood in its essence: its scent, its grain, its strength, the story each plank carries with it. Then, the evolution: the DIY sector. Sales assistant, then department manager for wood/construction 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 Encounter and the Spark

Between the aisles of a supermarket, in the food department, he meets her. His wife. His partner in life and adventure. Soon comes the first child, then the second, then the third. Three boys—“volcanoes of ideas,” as he calls them today.

The salary of a DIY store manager is no longer enough. Eight years of career, but the family grows and so do expenses. It is around 2009 when, looking at the collection piled up in a drawer, Furio has the intuition: “I should organize these coins.”

He searches for cases, displays, coin cabinets. He finds only plastic products, poor quality, made with added solvents and chemicals. Furio knows that for perfect preservation these products are not suitable, and so—using his experience with wood, his calloused hands, the courage of someone with 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 on the home balcony. Winter. Cold. Few tools. “It was ugly, handmade, but I made it.”

The satisfaction is immense. He posts the photos on Facebook, where he has several collector friends. The reaction is immediate: “Make one for me too. Make one for me too.”

So it begins, timidly. During lunch breaks, in the evenings after work, in time stolen from rest. An artisan’s approach, not an entrepreneur’s. But destiny knocks loudly: a well-known Sicilian numismatist contacts him.

“You make wonderful work. No one makes these in Italy. I would like…” and he commissions a small coin case.

Furio spends days outside on the balcony, in the cold, building that precious object. When he finishes, he posts the photos. And there, in that moment, the spark ignites. The launching pad: requests grow exponentially.

Six months later, free time is no longer enough—he has to make a choice. He leaves the secure job, the permanent contract, the guaranteed path. To follow a passion. To build a dream. To dare.

“A friend told me: are you crazy? How many collectors do you think there are in the world?” Furio smiles, remembering. “I, calm and sure, said: I don’t know. But to get out of the ditch, you have to jump. And I believe in my mastery and professionalism.”

The Garage: Years of Ice and Fire

The first three years of Coins&More—even if it wasn’t called that yet—take place in a 25-square-meter garage. Without heating. Freezing winters, scorching summers. Furio, his wife, and an assistant who believes in the project.

“I know that when I tell it, nobody believes it, but it really happened like this. Three people in 25 square meters, working wood, shipping packages, replying to customers. Summers, winters—always there.”

Soon after, his wife also resigns to help him. It is a total act of 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 the Garage to the World

In 2022, after years of sacrifice, the leap arrives. Requests grow every day; the shell of the garage has become too tight. Furio buys a bigger place, then an even bigger one. Today Coins&More has 7 employees, in addition to him and his wife.

Three women and three men artisans—“brilliant and talented, capable of creating everything my mind conceives.” Furio handles design, custom requests, new products. His wife is an operational part of the entire workflow.

“I no longer have much time as an artisan at the bench. I’ve become like the inventor of Harley-Davidson: at the beginning it was only him; now it’s no longer him who produces them, but his entire staff, perfectly trained to deliver a product of excellence.”

And he adds, proudly: “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 Archaeological Park of Paestum or the Ivan Bruschi Museum in Arezzo, where two splendid pieces can still be admired. And then the Italian Army. NATO. The main European armed forces. Stage props for films. A display for the ASI plaque on the Amerigo Vespucci. Plus important collaborations with leading realities such as Bolaffi and Pineider, and international artistic productions—up to the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) in London. Also, a major collaboration with the artist Tanoa Sasraku, who created a highly significant installation precisely with Coins&More trays at London’s museum of modern art; details here: https://www.coinsandmore.it/tanoa-sasraku

And then, the pinnacle: for the highest Italian institution, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella—two display cases to preserve the Italian flags, one for the President and one for NATO’s Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană, on the occasion of NATO’s 70th anniversary.

Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF0UqTBavL0.

“We have created furniture and displays for important artists, auction houses, museums, and real princes—we could name so many. But every customer, big or small, receives the same treatment: maximum quality, maximum care, the product signed by 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 velvet. Overseas production to lower costs.

The answer is immediate, firm, almost offended: “NEVER.”

“My vision is to use increasingly precious materials and increasingly beautiful and demanding workmanship. Not to raise prices: we keep entry-level and basic products of high quality at popular prices. The goal is to reach maximum perfection, in sustainable respect for nature.”

Then he lists, like a mantra: “At Coins&More we do not allow plastics, agglomerates, veneered woods that, underneath, in their soul, are still chipboard waste.”

This is the red line. The unbreakable boundary. The identity.

The Future: One Small Step at a Time

Despite success, Furio keeps his feet on the ground. There are expansion projects abroad, 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 path. Not necessarily follow mine. But if it ever happened, I’m sure success would continue generation after generation. Because good blood doesn’t lie.”

And if tomorrow, for any reason, the business had to stop?

“My satisfaction will be that thousands of customers around the world have a product signed by Furio Troiano. And they will pass that on generation after generation.”

Memento Audere Semper: The Motto of a Life

Memento audere semper. Remember to always dare. Furio Troiano’s motto, borrowed from his mentor Gabriele D’Annunzio, the poet-patriot from Pescara who made Italy great in the world.

This is the guiding thread of a life: audacity. The courage to jump into the void, knowing that fear is in the jump, not in the flight.

Furio’s advice to anyone who wants to start today is simple and direct, like him:

“Believe in yourself and in your abilities. Whatever your dream is, pursue it. And always dare. Fear is in the jump, not in the flight!”

The Wood Goldsmith

From that child who watched his grandfather hoe the earth, to today. From that Arab silver plate found by chance, to coin cabinets for presidents and princes. From the freezing 25-square-meter garage, to the workshops where artisans bring his ideas to life.

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 true Italian craftsmanship—made of solid wood and authentic velvet, sleepless nights and unwavering faith—can conquer the world.

One coin cabinet at a time.
One customer at a time.
One dream at a time.
Memento audere semper.

Technical Sheet

Links

• Company website: www.coinsandmore.it
• Shop: www.coinsandmore.it/shop
• Direct contact: WhatsApp +39 392 467 8613
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Tags: #FurioTroiano #CoinsAndMore #ItalianCraftsmanship #MadeInItaly #Numismatics #Collecting #BusinessStory #Abruzzo #Pescara #Montesilvano #MementoAudereSemper #WoodArtisan #HarleyDavidsonOfCollecting

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