Q. David Bowers
By Sonnie
Living in California one hears and sees so much relating to the problems of the children of movie stars. I grew up with a "numismatic star," but following in his footsteps was never a source of problems for me-only a source of pride. The path was clear-cut. If he was nothing else, my dad was a man of strictly high standards and principles. He believed in honesty, consideration, fairness and charity above all else. In our 46 years together, I never once saw him waiver from his beliefs.
But he was a lot more. Most of you only saw the professional numismatist. I saw also the loving, considerate husband and the loving, fair-minded, but very firm authority. He always gave me his opinions when I asked for them, but let me make my own decisions. He said, 'You'll only learn by making your own mistakes. Everyone does. That's why pencils have erasers." I should have listened more to his views. It seemed that I was learning an awful lot and that he'd evidently learned it all already, because he never seemed to be making any mistakes.
As I grew up I met so many of the great "old-timers" and "current-timers" in this wonderful numismatic world of ours. In junior high school, when it was the rage for girls to knit argyle socks, I made my first pair for "Uncle Max." B. Max Mehl has often been spoken of as 'The Father of Numismatics" in our country and this is the way I always thought of him. I also heard, over the years, my father referred to as "The Dean of Numismatics." Dad once called himself the "George Washington" of the PNG. Sol Kaplan played 'Lincoln" to his 'Washington," as Dad played "Lincoln" to Uncle Max's "Washington." Dad always had a big pet project going. He worked hard for his religious world, his social world, and his professional world, always in some leadership capacity-president, director, committee chairman, etc. Yet the reason he was never president of the ANA, though many pleaded with him numerous times to take it, was because he felt he could do more as a private individual than if he were in the center of its politics.
But he always had a numismatic iron in the fire. I don't know how often I heard him say 'This business has been so good to me. I want to give back to it some of what I got." I saw him worrying over the start of PNG and its early problems. Later ones, too. I saw him concerned as to whether ANACS would ever be accepted. And I saw him hassle over details for the many things he initiated. But never did I see him put forth so much time and effort as he did with the formation of the Official ANA Grading Standards. I typed a good many of those pages. Our secretary typed many more, at his expense. But he did it because he loved the business and wanted to do what was needed to increase and maintain a high standard of professionalism.
This influenced me greatly in my numismatic dealings. In the 10 years I worked with him daily, I did a great deal of grading. Even my husband, Dirk, showed a natural talent in this area. He pitched in and helped quite often. We HAD to be ultra-conservative. When you're the daughter, or son-in-law, of "the man who wrote the book (in collaboration with Ken Bressett), your grading had better be right on the money, or better! And how I remember how his eyes sparkled whenever he mentioned the "warehouse," of which I was in charge.
Another of his favorite areas of service was to the youth. He gave whatever was asked of him for the Young Numismatists group of the ANA, as well as whatever he thought of on his own. His mind was always spinning. He said, "We must take time with the youth. They are the future of our profession." In our store in Beverly Hills I remember an old cigar box filled with U.S. and foreign coins. Nothing in there cost over 10 cents. On many an occasion, I saw him leave his office, interrupting work on an important collection or an extensive estate which required concentration, and talk to a youngster who was having a tough time making a decision between two coins from that old cigar box.
I think the only regret Dad had was that he could never get a fire lit under his last pet project: a program tied into local coin clubs where an adult member would take a junior member under his wing, for say a year, or more, and be his numismatic ''big brother." If anyone out there wants to do something in Dad's memory-this would be it.
Dad's 53 years in numismatics were filled with laughter and tears. He was proud and happy when my brother, Steve, became a numismatist, and when Mike Kliman later joined A. Kosoff, Inc. There was laughter when the "boys" branched out on their own and later became what is now Numismatic Enterprises. And there were tears, of course, at the untimely death of my brother. And the laughter with all the people he so enjoyed. If I started naming them it would fill this book and I'd undoubtedly leave some out-but you all know who you are. Especially he loved the Numismatic Literary Guild's (NLG) Bash, a night at each ANA Convention he always got a big bang out of. And there's the Goodfellows, another happy group. The "tears" came with the frustrations of each pet project, but the rewards were great.
I think Dad received every award the business had to offer, including the much coveted Farran Zerbe Award-the highest honor of all. What surprised me was that he was always surprised to have been selected for these honors! I would have thought he'd expect them. But he always received them with his usual humble pride, wonderful smile, and
a little trace of tears in his eyes. He was also proud of being named to a chair at the Adelphi University; he was proud of each of the many plaques and certificates given him as speaker, emcee, moderator, or benefactor (many of which still decorate a wall in my mother's home) and he was proud of the last award, to the cherished Numismatic Hall of Fame. For a man to be so rewarded is to die happy and satisfied with his accomplishments.
As you know, the founding of the PNG was one of his most rewarding accomplishments. Dad wanted as many people as possible to become members of the PNG. His propelling reason was, again, to upgrade the ethics and integrity of the profession. Anyone who joined the PNG had to adhere to its high Code of Ethics or would be liable to come under the gun of its Board of Arbitration.
Today, even in its large number there is still a "specialness" -a feeling of pride and comraderie among PNG members. The PNG adopted an emblem using the words KNOWLEDGE, INTEGRITY, and RESPONSIBILITY. Before that, Dad has his now long familiar triangular logo reading EXPERIENCE, SERVICE, and FIDELITY.
To Dad, the most important thing he could get out of life, besides his family and the wonderful relationship he and my mother, Molly, shared for 55 years, was not monetary gain; it was a flawless reputation. I am so very grateful to feel this marvelous man achieved his greatest wish in life, and thank deeply the so very many friends and acquaintances in numismatics who helped him achieve it.
And there's so much more...