Longtime professional numismatist, award-winning author, and acclaimed hobby leader Jeff Garrett of Lexington, Kentucky, is the recipient of the Central States Numismatic Society’s (CSNS) Q. David Bowers Award. Named after prominent dealer and esteemed numismatic author Q. David Bowers, the 2025 award will be presented to Garrett at the upcoming CSNS convention in Schaumburg, Illinois, on April 24-26.
Among his many accomplishments in his illustrious career, Garrett founded Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries; served as president of both the Professional Numismatists Guild (2005-07) and the American Numismatic Association (2015-17); founded the Bluegrass Coin Club; authored or coauthored several award-winning numismatic reference books; and is a consultant for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Numismatic Collection in Washington, D.C. He has served as senior editor of A Guide Book of United States Coins (the “Red Book”) since 2019.
A Deserving Recipient
“Jeff Garrett certainly deserves this award for his unselfish devotion, scholarly contributions, and the investments of time and resources made to the hobby by a numismatic professional,” says CSNS President Mitch Ernst. “The professional side of the hobby is often asked to fund many of the benefits the collector side of the hobby enjoys. Sadly, those contributions many times go unrecognized by the organizations that have long benefited by the contributions made by the numismatic professionals of our hobby. Interestingly, when the concept of creating this award was originally presented to the CSNS board of directors, it was with a person like Jeff Garrett in mind.”
Grateful for the award, Garrett states, “The Central States Numismatic Society has been a part of my numismatic journey for almost 50 years. The organization has always been important to me, especially since I live in one of the ‘central states.’ I am very honored to be named the Q. David Bowers Award recipient. Dave Bowers has been one of the most important mentors of my career. He taught me so much about numismatic writing and the importance of numismatic knowledge. Our work together on the Red Book over the years was inspiring and motivated me to try to educate others as Dave did so well over the decades. His contributions to the hobby will never be matched, and being given an award that is connected with him is truly humbling.”