TIMELINE OF KEN BRESSETT'S 95 YEARS

5-Oct-28: Ken Bressett born in Keene, NH

1937: Ken first starts to collect coins with coins given to him by his grandmother and a neighbor.

1947: Attended Dresser Business School - later studied Graphic Arts at U. of Wisconsin

1948-1951: Member of the New Hampshire National Guard

1949-1959: Worked for Sentinel Publishing Co. as a printer and compositor.

1950-2012: Married to Bertha Britton - four children

1950: Organized first New Hampshire Coin Club in Keene, the Cheshire County Numismatic Society

1950's (early): Began photographing coins including the Eliasberg collection and Large Cents from William Sheldon.

1950's (early): Discovered 12 new varieties of colonial coins.

1956: "Coined" the term double-die for the 1955 doubled die Lincoln cent.

1956 (starting): Began freelance editorial work on the Red Book.

1959: Moved to Wisconsin and started working for R.S. Yeoman in Racine.

1960: Founded the Rittenhouse Numismatic Society, an ongoing fraternity of well-known numismatic authors.

 

1962: Publishes The Fantastic 1804 Dollar with Eric P. Newman

1964-1968: Editor and Publisher of the Whitman Numismatic Journal.

1966: Appointed to the U.S. Assay Commission by LBJ.

 

1971-2018: Became Editor of the Red Book and the Blue Book when Yeoman retired from Whitman Publishing.

 

1974: Publishes Let's Collect Coins! - An Introduction to a Fascinating Hobby

1975: Publishes A Guide Book of English Coins

1975-Present Day: Teacher at the ANA Summer Seminars (today he is a "Roving Instructor").

1976: Wrote a variety catalog for Vermont Coppers. He introduced a numbering system for these coins which is still in use today.

 

1977: Publishes 1st ed. of The Official ANA Grading Standards for United States Coins with Abe Kosoff and Q. David Bowers. The book is now in its 7th edition and still edited by Bressett and Bowers.

1978: Awarded the ANA Medal of Merit

1979: Publishes Buying and Selling United States Coins

1980: Started working for A.M. Kagin in Des Moines, Iowa

1982: Publishes Basics of Coin Grading for U.S. Coins

1982: Moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado and began working at the ANA Headquarters.

1982-1988: Worked as the Director of ANACS at the ANA

1983-1988: Worked as Director of Coin Authentication and Educational Programs at the ANA.

: Won the Clemy Award for Numismatic Writing from the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG).

1986: Dove with Mel Fisher to the Nuestra Senora de Atocha for coins and treasures

1989-1994: Member of the ANA Board of Governors

1990: Publishes United States Coin Trends with Q. David Bowers

 

1991: Publishes Collectible American Coins

1991: Publishes Collecting U.S. Coins

1993: Publishes First Edition of the Guide Book of United States Currency. Book is now in its eighth edition.

1995-1997: Served as President of the ANA and wrote a monthly column for the Numismatist.

1996: Elected to the National Numismatic Hall of Fame

1996-2003: Ken was a member of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Commission. Promoted the fifty State Quarters Program.

1997: Awarded the Glenn Smedley Memorial Award

March and July 1998: Won two ANA Presidential Awards

1998: Ken and his wife Bert received the ANA's Farran Zerbe Award

1998: Edits the Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins written by Zander H. Klawans

2001: Awarded the ANA Lifetime Achievement Award

2004: Awarded the ANA Numismatist of the Year Award

2006: Whitman Publishing created a silver dollar sized medal featuring Bressett and Yeoman to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Red Book.

 

2007: Publishes first edition of Money of the Bible - Book is now in 3rd Edition

2007: Publishes Milestone Coins: A Pageant of the World's Most Significant and Popular Money

2010: Ken is awarded the ANA Century Club Award for sponsoring 100 new members.

2010: ANA names a Y/N Literary Award (18-22) after Ken Bressett.

2016: Received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Numismatic Society (ANS).

2017: Awarded the Adna G. Wilde Award for Excellence

2017: Publishes latest edition of the Whitman Guide to Coin Collecting: An Introduction to the World of Coins. First edition published in 1999?

2018: Won Burnett Anderson Award for Numismatic Writing.

2021: Named one of Coin World's Top 10 - from their list of the 60 most influential people in numismatics 1960-2020.

2022: Publishes Bible Lore and the Eternal Flame

2022: Inducted into the Brotherhood of Saint Eligius as a Knight of the patron saint of numismatics.

2023: Received the Presidential Award from the ANA.

2024: Writes Money Musings column for the ANA website.

For more information on the New England Numismatic Association, see:
https://www.nenacoin.org/

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
KEN BRESSETT AND NENA NEWS (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n45a17.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web