After their sons had grown up, Julie and John Higham left their teaching jobs in 1985 to open a small antique shop in Treasury Court in Carlisle City centre, calling it Souvenir Antiques, selling a wide range of antiques.

After 18 years, their lease ended and, in 2004, they moved to a small semi-basement shop in Long Lane, opposite the Cathedral. By this time, they had begun to specialise in antique maps and in Roman coins and had developed two specialist websites.

The shop in Long Lane proved a success in a slightly different way to that in Treasury Court.  It was further away from the town centre shoppers but nearer the tourists visiting the cathedral, castle and museum and nearer also to the Roman Wall walkers, following the official Trail which had opened the previous year. As a result of all these, the trade in Roman coins and antiquities increased as the sale of ornaments, etc. decreased.

In 2012, the BBC Antiques Road Trip came to town and Anita Manning, one of the experts, visited the shop (below). An eagle-eyed viewer in Belgium spotted the coins on display and became a regular customer.

The following year however the shop had to close to allow building works. For the next few years, Julie and John traded at local Antique Fairs while retaining (until 2026) a showcase of coins in Bookcase, the large second-hand bookshop in the city centre. In 2021, the couple relocated to Derbyshire and opened a new showcase of coins and antiquities in Derwentside Shopping Mill, Belper.

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