ROBERTSDALE, Alabama -- At about 11 p.m. Wednesday, Tamatha Graves received a call that no business owner wants to get.

It was the Robertsdale Police Department calling to say that their business, Graves Coins on Highway 59, had been robbed.

“They took everything,” said a tearful Graves in a phone interview on Thursday. “We’re still sorting through our inventory trying to determine exactly what’s missing.”

At about 10:30 Wednesday, police received a call from a neighbor who heard a noise in the area, Graves said.

“The police thought it was the car lot next door at first,” said Henry Graves. But when they found a trail of coins leading back to the shop, they discovered an area of the back wall of the business where the thieves had broken in.

In all, Tamatha and Henry Graves estimate that an estimated $8,000 to $10,000 worth of merchandise was stolen on Wednesday, mostly coins and coin books.

A neighbor witnessed a vehicle leaving the scene, Tamatha Graves said, possibly a 1990s model Ford Explorer, possibly green.

There are no security cameras in the area. The break-in did trigger the business’s alarm but, Tamatha Graves said, they were not contacted by the alarm company.

“I believe they are going to take some responsibility for what happened,” she said, adding that they are offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. “We are right on the highway. Surely somebody driving by saw something.”

Henry Graves said this is the first time they have been robbed in the six years operating in the same location.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the Robertsdale Police Department, 947-8930 or 947-2222.