Exhibit 99(b)
                                                                   -------------

NEWS RELEASE
                                                                        CONTACT:
AUGUST 21, 1998                                               GREGORY T. CASWELL
                                           PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
                                                                  DENNIS D. BYRD
                                                                       TREASURER
                                                                   (207)774-5000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NASDAQ:FCME                                    WEBSITE: WWW.FIRSTCOASTAL.COM

       FIRST COASTAL CORPORATION ANNOUNCES SALE OF ITS OPERATIONS CENTER

     WESTBROOK, ME--- First Coastal Corporation ("First Coastal" or the
"Company"), the parent company of Coastal Bank (the "Bank"), announced that the
Bank has agreed to sell real estate located at 36 Thomas Drive, Westbrook, which
is currently its headquarters, operations center and serves as a branch banking
office, to SYSCO Foods of Northern New England. The sale price is $1.6 million
and the Company's net pre-tax gain on the sale is estimated to be $540,000.  The
closing is expected in mid-September.  As part of the transaction the Bank will
lease and continue to conduct business from this location for a period of up to
eighteen months, until a new location is available.  As a result of the sale and
lease-back arrangement, the Company's operating expenses over the eighteen month
lease-back period will increase $140,000.  This expense will be offset in part
through the Company's investment of the cash received from the sale.

     While the future new home of the Bank has not yet been determined, the
Company will remain headquartered in the Greater Portland area.  Efforts are
currently underway to identify and secure a main office facility that will
adequately support the Bank's current operations, its overall business plan and
intended growth.

     Gregory T. Caswell,  President and Chief Executive Officer of First Coastal
and Coastal Bank stated,"Though our present facility has served us well, the
combination of our business focus and planned growth, particularly within the
Greater Portland market, and the very attractive price associated with the sale,
has resulted in this being a favorable transaction for the Company.  The sale
provides the Company with the opportunity to secure a facility that will better
support its overall business plan."

     First Coastal Corporation is a Maine-based $172 million bank holding
company with Coastal Bank, an FDIC insured, Maine state-chartered savings bank
as its sole operating subsidiary.  Coastal Bank has eight banking offices
located in Brunswick (2), Freeport, Kennebunk, Portland, Saco, Topsham and
Westbrook.

     This press release may include "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Any statements
with regard to the Company's expectations as to its financial results and other
aspects of its business, as well as general economic conditions, may constitute
forward-looking statements.  Although the Company makes such statements based on
assumptions which it believes to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that
actual results will not differ materially from the Company's expectations.
Accordingly, the Company hereby identifies the following important factors,
among others, which could cause results to differ from any results which might
be projected, forecasted or estimated based on such forward-looking statements:
(i) general economic and competitive conditions in the markets in which the
Company operates, and the risks inherent in its operations, (ii) the Company's
ability to continue to control its provision for loan losses, noninterest
expense, increase earning assets and noninterest income, and maintain its
margin, and (iii) the level of demand for new and existing products.  Should one
or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those
described in the forward-looking statements.  The Company does not intend to
update forward-looking statements.  Investors are also directed to other
information related to the Company in documents filed by the Company with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
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