Market stalwart calls it a day

IT was the end of an era at the Bendigo Showgrounds Sunday Market on the weekend just gone, with the last of its original stallholders, Peter Forster, folding up his trestle tables for the final time.

Executive officer and secretary of the Bendigo Agricultural Show Society Ian Furze, and several staff members, marked the occasion by surprising Mr Forster with a framed certificate of appreciation and a bottle of Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny Port.

Having retired from the supermarket game about 15 years ago and now in his early 80s, Mr Forster had barely missed a day during the 30-plus year history of the market, but said facing another chilly winter at stall 57 in the Showgrounds’ cavernous Noble Pavilion is something he wasn’t keen on.

“I’ve been here a long time,” he said. “We’re going into winter now and the winters are pretty tough out here.”

“I’m knocking off now before we get right into the dead cold days.”

A prolific buyer and seller of all things collectibles, including coins, notes, pipes, medallions, badges, stamps, teaspoons, watches, vintage oil cans, toys and comics, the octogenarian started off as a stallholder at the old Marong Village carpark market (now Lansell Square), moving on to the Epsom Market, before landing for good at the Showgrounds Market from day one.

“I started on coin collecting and advanced from there,” he said.

“I’ve gone into other (items) – pretty much across a broad range of collectibles.”

Such is his reputation around the traps, most of Mr Forster’s stock has been obtained privately from sellers who’ve approached him over the years.

“They come to me,” he said. “I pay cash outright, they’re usually happy with that and that’s where I make most of my purchases.”

He said Melbourne Centenary Florin coins (1934-35), 75,000 of which were minted with a large proportion melted down, have remained one of the most lucrative commodities for his enduring enterprise.

“They’re one of the bigger priced items I would sell out there, at up around $400, $500.

“You don’t sell those every day, but somebody who does want one, because they’re fairly rare, well, they’ve got to pay for it.”

As the past president of the Bendigo Coin and Collectibles Club for 40 years, Mr Forster has banded together several fellow members to make sure his long standing footprint at the market doesn’t vanish entirely.

“Rather than see what I’m doing out here disappear altogether, I’ve teed up other members, the ones that are interested, to share (the stall) on a rotation basis,” he said.

“They’ll have one day each, they can do it in pairs or they can do it singly. We’ve got about half a dozen names down that are interested.

“The Show Society is quite happy to see it continue because it’s unique to the market.

“It’s something a little bit different that you don’t normally see.”

The Showgrounds Market is held every Sunday from 8.30am to 2pm, except during major events including the Agricultural Show.