Q. David Bowers

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Quentin David Bowers (born 1938) is considered the best-known and most noteworthy numismatist of the last 50 years. Beginning in 1953, Dave’s contributions to numismatics have continued uninterrupted and unabated to the present day. ^[1] He has been involved in the selling of rare coins since 1953 when he was a teenager. ^[2] A 1960 graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, Q. David Bowers was given the Alumni Achievement Award by that institutions College of Business Administration in a ceremony in 1976. ^[3]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Interest in Numismatics 3 Numismatic Legacy 4 Literary career 5 Interests 6 Business 7 References

[edit] Early life

His maternal grandfather, Chester L. Garratt, an attorney by profession, was a hobbyist and researcher in many areas. It was his grandfather who gave him his first "rare" coin, a well worn 1893 Columbian half dollar. ^[4] This would be his first exposure to Numismatics.

In 1945-46, his next exposure to numismatics was a friend’s home in which a dozen or more Indian pennies were embedded face-up in a concrete walk near the front door. ^[5] In 1948, his family moved to Forty Fort, Pennsylvania about an hour away from Honesdale. ^[6]

As a 13-year-old high school, his interests included reptiles, scouting, short-wave radio, Strombecker kit models of World War II airplanes, and rocks and minerals, to name a few. This would be the same time that Bowers would find an interest in the written word. Raymond L. Ditmars' Reptiles of North America was given to him by his mother as a Christmas gift in 1952 and was added to a small library. According to Bowers, Ditmars, who was curator of reptiles at the New York Zoological Garden (Bronx Zoo), had a way of making just about anything sound fascinating. ^[7] From such experiences, Bowers learned the power of the written word and how it can spur one to a great enthusiasm for acquisition. ^[8]

[edit] Interest in Numismatics

Robert L. Rusbar, local tax collector, had a very nice collection of rocks and minerals, so Bowers visited him. After a session with rocks and minerals, Rusbar asked Bowers if he collected coins, to which he replied in the negative. ^[9] He brought out from a safe a small green-covered album of Lincoln cents, pointed to one of the first openings, and showed that he had paid $10 for that particular coin. ^[10] He carefully explained that it was a Lincoln cent made in the first year of issue, 1909, with the initials of the designer, Victor David Brenner, VD.B., on the reverse. ^[11] Bowers would soon discover that the reason for the high value was that beneath the date, there was a tiny "S" signifying it had been made in San Francisco. This mint mark jumped the value from a few cents up to the $10 he had paid. ^[12] Bowers discovered that 484,000 had been minted and became inspired to find one himself. Rusbar would give Bowers a couple of blue Whitman coin folders and a few mintmarked Lincoln cents to get started. Inspired with the idea of making money by selling coins, rather than cutting grass, Bowers traded a $10 bill for 1,000 mixed Lincoln cents. Bowers goal was to find the 1909-s VDB., 1914-D, and 1931-S pieces. ^[13]

From finding Lincoln cents in circulation, Bowers moved towards other series, including Mercury dimes and Standing Liberty quarters. Seeking to gain more knowledge, Bowers discovered the Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, a monthly journal put out by the Hewitt brothers (Lee and Cliff) in Illinois. The dozens of pages filled with stories and tales about coins and coin collecting but, advertisements offering things for sale was a catalyst in stimulating Bowers affinity for coins. ^[14] The first coin Bowers ever ordered through the mail was an Indian cent--an 1859 Proof from the Copley Coin Company run by Maurice Gould and Frank Washburn in Boston at a price of $11. ^[15] His enthusiasm for the Numismatist Scrapbook Magazine also resulted in an accumulation of back copies dating to 1935, and a file of several decades of The Numismatist. A local insurance agent, George P Williams, would take Bowers under his wing. Together, they would attend meetings of the Wilkes-Barre Coin Club held in the YMCA.

He first became a vest-pocket dealer in 1953, when he was not quite 15 years of age. ^[16] He had begun collecting coins just a few months earlier, and soon found he had an aptitude for buying and selling them advantageously. ^[17] Bowers would start running advertisements in the classified section of the local paper seeking coins. ^[18] As his growing dealership prospered, so would his capital. He would buy coins locally from the public and from other collectors and then sell them at the coin club and to collectors he met there. ^[19] In the early years, becoming a dealer had its challenges as there were no guides to go by. One of the risks included the authenticity of a coin while another point of tension was condition. As there were no published standards, what one person called Gem Uncirculated could be what another might call About Uncirculated.

By his senior year in high school in Forty Fort, Pa., the business was flourishing and coin dealing had become the young entrepreneur's principal extracurricular activity. ^[20] True to form, however, he still found time to hit the books: He was a finalist in the first National Merit Scholarship competition in 1956, and went on to win further academic distinction at Penn State University, graduating with honors in 1960. ^[21]

In 1958, while still in college, Bowers teamed up with James F. Ruddy -- the first of several partners to figure in his career -- to form the Empire Coin Co. in Johnson City, N.Y. ^[22] The company rode the crest of the mail-order boom in the early 1960s to become one of the nation's leading coin dealerships. ^[23]

In 1965, Paramount International Coin Corp. acquired Empire and Bowers left the coin business to indulge one of his other great passions: automatic musical instruments. ^[24]

[edit] Numismatic Legacy

His work with rare coins is so voluminous and so extraordinary that he was named by COINAge magazine as one of the “Numismatists of the Century.” ^[25] Bowers’ dedication to the hobby and his lifelong interest in rare coins, along with his pursuit of scholarly knowledge, have made him one of the most honored and revered numismatists of all time. Bowers is the only person to have served as president of both the Professional Numismatists Guild (1977-1979) and the American Numismatic Association (1983-1985). ^[26] From the PNG, he received their highest honor, the Founders Award, and from the ANA, Bowers has received its two most distinguished awards – Numismatist of the Year and the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award. ^[27]

He was the first ANA member to be named Numismatist of the Year (1995), has been inducted into the Numismatic Hall of Fame (at the ANA Headquarter in Colorado Springs), is a recipient of the highest honor bestowed by the Professional Numismatists Guild (The Founders' Award), and has received more "Book of the Year Award" and "Best Columnist" honors given by the Numismatic Literary Guild than any other writer. He has lectured at Harvard University and appeared on the Today Show as well as on programs on CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. ^[28]

[edit] Literary career

Bowers is the author of over three dozen books on various historical subjects, including Muriel Ostriche: Princess of Silent Films, Nickelodeon Theatres, The History of U.S. Coinage (for The Johns Hopkins University), The Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments, and other works which have become standard references in their fields. ^[29]

He is highly regarded as a very prolific numismatic author too, having produced 50 works, mostly written in the field of rare coins, including the American Numismatic Association Centennial History, Adventures with Rare Coins, the two-volume Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States, and A California Gold Rush History. ^[30] He has also written hundreds of auction and other catalogues, and several thousand articles. ^[31]

More recently, he also serves as Numismatic Director of Whitman Publishing LLC, where he has produced another group of books including the very popular Red Book series. ^[32] More of Dave’s books have won “Book of the Year” honors from the Numismatic Literary Guild than have those of any other author. ^[33]

From the Professional Numismatists Guild, he has received the coveted Friedberg Award a record seven times. ^[34]

His latest book, The Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins, is forthcoming, perhaps the summer of 2008.

[edit] Interests

The authors interest in cinema history dates from August 1957, when on a visit to Philadelphia's Pine Street district of antiques shops he purchased a collection of one-sheet Biograph, Vitagraph, and other silent film posters which had been deaccessioned by Harvard University and sold to a dealer in old prints. ^[35] Since then he has built an archive of cinema periodicals and publications, including many items formerly the property of George Kleine, Martin Quigley, William Fox, and other notables in the industry. ^[36]

[edit] Business

Q. David Bowers, is the Co-Chairman of Stacks, a company that endeavours in Rare Numismatics Auctions. During his illustrious career, he has catalogued and sold at public auction many of the finest and most valuable and important collections ever assembled. ^[37] They include the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, the only complete United States coin collection ever brought together, the Harry W. Bass Jr. Collection, the Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb Collection, the John Work Garrett Collection sold by order of The Johns Hopkins University, the Childs Collection, the highlight of which was the finest known 1804 silver dollar, the second most valuable coin ever auctioned, as well as others. ^[38] With Raymond N. Merena he is co-owner of Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc., a worldwide business based in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. The authors mailing address is: Box 1224, Wolfeboro, New Hampshire 03894-1224. ^[39]

[edit] References