Q. David Bowers

Quentin David Bowers (born October 21, 1938) is an American numismatist, businessman, author, and columnist. Beginning in 1952, Bowers’s contributions to numismatics have continued uninterrupted and unabated to the present day. He has been involved in the selling of rare coins since 1953 when he was a teenager.

During his career, he has written over 70 books and thousands of articles and catalogued and sold many of prominent collections.

Early life Bowers was born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in 1938. His maternal grandfather, Chester Garratt, an attorney by profession, was a hobbyist and researcher in many areas. Garratt gave him his first "rare" coin, a well worn 1893 Columbian half dollar.

Interest in numismatics Robert L. Rusbar, a local tax collector, had a collection of rocks and minerals, and Bowers visited him. After a session with rocks and minerals, Rusbar asked Bowers if he collected coins, to which he replied in the negative. He had begun collecting coins just a few months earlier, and he found he had an aptitude for buying and selling them advantageously.

By his senior year in high school, his business was flourishing, and coin dealing had become the young entrepreneur's principal extracurricular activity.

In 2010, the American Numismatic Association named one of their Young Numismatist Literary Awards after Bowers, where articles submitted by children ages 13-17 can win awards and numismatic books.

Since 2021, Bowers has been named one of Coin World'''s Top 10 Most Influential People in Numismatics four consecutive years.

Literary career Bowers is the author of over three dozen books on various historical subjects, including the following: Muriel Ostriche: Princess of Silent Films, (1987) where he has produced another group of books including the Bowers Series covering various coin types in detail. Bowers wrote a column, "The Joys of Collecting", for Coin World in both the magazine's weekly and monthly issues. From 2018-2021, Bowers wrote a weekly column called "Bowers On Collecting" for Coin Update News and Mint News Blog. The column went into re-runs following his retirement, and its previous articles are archived on The E-Sylum, an online forum run by the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

Bowers also had a column called "Coins and Collectors" in The Numismatist, the monthly magazine of the American Numismatic Association, from 1965-2021. He was a frequent contributor to The Commemorative Trail'', the newsletter of the Society for U.S. Commemorative Coins, during its run.

Other work Bowers's 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. the Harry W. Bass Jr. Collection the Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb Collection

On July 29, 2025, Stack's Bowers Galleries announced Bowers had retired from the company.

Personal life Bowers was married to Mary Masters from 1960–73, and they had two children. Since 1978 he has been married to Christine Valentine.