Q. David Bowers, Chairman, is perhaps 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. 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.” Dave’s 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. Dave is the only person to have served as president of both the Professional Numismatists Guild (1977-1979) and the American Numismatic Association (1983-1985). From the PNG, he received their highest honor, the Founders Award, and from the ANA, Dave has received its two most distinguished awards – Numismatist of the Year and the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award. 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. Dave is the most prolific numismatic author of our generation, having produced 50 works, mostly written in the field of rare coins, including the ANA Centennial History, History of United States Coinage (for the Johns Hopkins University), Adventures with Rare Coins, the two-volume Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States, and A California Gold Rush History. 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. More of Dave’s books have won “Book of the Year” honors from the Numismatic Literary Guild than have those of any other author. From the Professional Numismatists Guild, he has received the coveted Friedberg Award a record seven times! During his illustrious career, he has catalogued and sold at public auction many of the finest and most valuable and important collections ever assembled. 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.

Christine Karstedt serves as our President and oversees auction operations and customer service. Additionally she handles our marketing and publicity with unbridled enthusiasm. A fixture at numismatic conventions and auctions for two decades, Chris has built a vast network of industry contacts during her extensive career. Chris’ ability to attract worldwide attention to the sale of numismatic material placed her at the center of the marketing of the $100 million treasure of the S.S. Central America and the S.S. Brother Jonathan. Chris has worked with numismatic trade publications as well as the mainstream press in bringing to market the early sales of the Eliasberg Collection, the Bass Collection, the Norweb Collection of Canadian coins, the Norweb Collection of Washingtonia, and countless other sales over her incomparable career. During her most recent tenure, she has been responsible for the marketing and publicity of the Dr. Haig A. Koshkarian Collection, a fabulous array of valuable copper and silver coins; the Oliver Jung Collection, one of the finest type collections ever assembled; Richard Jewell’s collections of commemorative and three-dollar gold coins; the Cardinal Collection, the finest Bust dollars ever assembled and the Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection of World Gold Coins and Medals whose prices realized stunned the foreign world. Her unstinting and tireless efforts help consignors receive the highest possible prices for their coins. Chris is involved with our day-to-day operations and is one of our auctioneers.

David T. Alexander received his BS and MA degrees from the University of Miami and joined the firm as a cataloguer in 1990. A Life Member of the ANA, he has contributed articles to The Numismatist and the ANA Centennial Anthology and received the Glenn B. Smedley Award and ANA Medal of Merit. He served on the staff at Coin World from 1974-81. He received the Clemy Award from the NLG in 1987. David is a 25-year member of the ANS and a member of the Augustus B. Sage Society. He has presented papers at the 1999 and 2005 ANS Conferences on Coinage of the Americas. David is a Contributing Editor of COINage magazine and pens “The Research Desk” column for Coin World. He received the 1990 Society for International Numismatics Silver Medal of Merit for Excellence in Writing and Research and Krause Publications’ Numismatic Ambassador Award in 1995. In 1998 he founded the Medal Collectors of America and was elected to the Rittenhouse Society. He was President of the New York Numismatic Club in 2005-2006. David was elected a Fellow of the American Numismatic Society October 2008.

Andrew Bowers manages our website content and coordinates editorial material for our publications. He assists in our gallery operations, from putting coins in stock, to tracking our inventory. He brings a great deal of enthusiasm to Stack’s. Andrew has attended many coin conventions and ANA seminars and has traveled extensively with our company to gather coins for “want lists” and assist with our auctions.

Greg Cohen began collecting coins at the age of 7 with a handful of coins given to him by his grandfather. Over the years his casual collecting of assorted numismatic items became focused on early U.S. half dollars, and he began collecting by Overton variety. While attending Quinnipiac University, where he graduated in 2006 with a B.A. in History with minors in political science and economics, Greg worked for several dealers on a freelance basis. After graduation, Greg took a position at R.M. Smythe, where he assisted clients in the office and at shows and cataloguing U.S. and world coins for auction and retail sale. Here at Stack’s, he works with the entire auction team, from when the coins first arrive to the end of catalogue production. Greg is a member of the ANA, JRCS, FUN, and Phi Alpha Theta.

Bruce Roland Hagen has been a collector since 1971 and a professional numismatist since 1988. His areas of expertise include U.S. coins and paper money, world coins from 1400 to 1900, American and world medals, Polar exploration ephemera, world paper money and American historical documents. Bruce has worked as a private consultant to numismatic auction houses, museums and foundations, and private collectors of American historical paper currency and financial documents. He has contributed to well over 200 numismatic auction catalogues featuring over $50 million of historical paper currency, coins and medals, stocks and bonds, financial documents and other numismatic items. He is a member of over a dozen organizations including the PCDA, ANA, ANS, SPMC, IBNS, CSNS, FUN, and several regional clubs. Most recently, Bruce has been the lead paper money cataloguer for the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. He has also worked on the Herb and Martha Schingoethe obsolete currency sales by R.M. Smythe & Co. where he had previously served as VP. He has also contributed to numerous books and articles including Friedberg’s Paper Money of the United States and the Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money by Oakes and Schwartz.

Melissa Karstedt works with clients in our retail gallery, with the active support of our team of well-respected numismatists. She maintains our coin inventory and supervises our Monthly Acquisition Program, which assists clients with building fine collections by way of budgeted monthly coin purchases, with each coin carefully and specifically selected by our numismatists to fit the collector’s interests and preferences. As a valued member of our auction team, she often assists in auctioneering. At the many coin conventions she regularly attends, she eagerly assists clients and visitors to our bourse tables.

Marissa E. Lederman, a historian by training with a BA from Colgate University, is a numismatic researcher and cataloguer and a valuable member of the Stack’s auction staff. Marissa is involved with virtually every step of the auction process, from coordinating with consignors to supervising the internal processing of lots to cataloguing auction lots. Catalogue production is also a major component of Marissa’s responsibilities, and she works closely with Vicken Yegparian and our graphics department to this end. On auction day, Marissa is there to assist bidders and fellow staff, and helps everything run smoothly.

James M. Matthews is one of our senior cataloguers of U.S. Federal and Colonial coins. He began cataloguing in the 1980s and has worked as a consultant for a variety of numismatic firms, now exclusive to Stack’s. Significant specialized collections he catalogued include the Roger Cohen Half Cents, the H. Rolland Willasch Bust Half Dollars and Bust Dollars, the Richard Pugh Bust Half Dollars, the Paul Munson Bust Half Dollars, the Benson Collection, the Richmond Collection, the Jules Reiver Die Variety Collection, the Northern Bay Collection, and most recently the George Byers, Jr. Collection of Half Dollars, among countless others. A board member of the John Reich Collector’s Society since 1987, he has written numerous articles for its quarterly publication. He is also a member of the ANA, ANS, LSCC and EAC. Jim was a contributor to Jules Reiver’s The United States Early Silver Dollars and to The Complete Encyclopedia of Silver Dollars of the United States by Q. David Bowers. He is presently contributing and updating Reiver’s various Variety Identification Manuals. Recently he wrote portions of the Smithsonian Institution’s book on the Gold Coinage of America. He has also worked with the Federal Trade Commission. 

Jack McNamara has been interested in numismatics since boyhood. He was introduced to coin collecting by his maternal grandfather (whose own grandfather had advertised coins for sale in the American Journal of Numismatics in the late 19th century!) by playing bingo with Wheat cents and a Whitman coin folder. Jack has a general knowledge of U.S. coins and paper money, with early American copper coins being his specialty. He is a contributor to several numismatic publications and auction catalogues including the Handbook of United States Coins and the 15th sale of the John J. Ford, Jr. Collection. A graduate of Rutgers University, he is a lifelong New Jersey resident and as such has a great interest in the coinage and currency of his home state. “Jack Mac” can regularly be found at the New York office cataloguing coins, working with consignors and assisting our retail clientele.

John M. Pack, one of our auction consignment specialists, has been involved in numismatics for over 20 years. His enthusiasm for all aspects of numismatics, and his sincere approach, guarantees that every consignment will be presented to its finest advantage so as to provide the highest possible prices realized. Further, John will make sure that each and every consignor will have a pleasurable transaction with our firm. In addition to working with auction consignors, John catalogues currency for the firm. His cataloguing talents were widely recognized for several record setting presentations of U.S. paper money highlighted by the world-renowned collections of Harry W. Bass, Jr. and Wayne S. Rich. In addition, he was selected to compose the currency chapter of the important Harry W. Bass, Jr. Museum Sylloge. Most recently, he has become intimately involved with the vast American Banknote Co. materials and has superbly catalogued a good portion of our recent offerings.

Beth Piper began her career in numismatics at Bowers and Merena and worked 18 years with that firm. In that time, she earned the distinction of having spent more continuous years working under the direction of Q. David Bowers than any other individual. Beth has participated in nearly every position required at a leading numismatic auction firm, and her responsibilities encompassed receptionist to coin grading to direct sales, as well as numismatic research and cataloguing of auction lots. One of her primary jobs is processing and proofreading auction lots and the final compilation of data files for catalogues. Her work with great numismatic auction sales is extensive and includes landmark offerings such as the collections of the Norweb family, Eliasberg, Bass and Childs, among over 100 other sales.

Frank Van Valen is one of America’s best known numismatic personalities and one of our senior cataloguers, and is now in his 22nd year of working with Q. David Bowers, first at Bowers and Merena, then American Numismatic Rarities, and now for the Stack's organization. Widely praised for over two decades for his numismatic expertise, Frank’s byline has appeared in scores of the most important auction catalogues ever written including the Ambassador and Mrs. R. Henry Norweb Collection of U.S. Coins, and such specialized collections as the Texas Collection of California Fractional Gold and the historic coin collection of Commodore Matthew C. Perry. A coin collector since 1961, Frank has contributed to the last 21 editions of A Guide Book of United States Coins and his writing talents have earned him the recognition of the Numismatic Literary Guild. Additionally, his writings have appeared in The Numismatist and many club periodicals over the years. A current ANA Life Member with nearly 30 years of membership, he has taught courses on U.S. type coins at numerous summer seminars hosted by the ANA, and is a member of many national and specialty organizations as well. Frank has an expert understanding of the intricacies of all American coinage in addition to many other numismatic fields. He is also one of our very popular and featured auctioneers.

Vicken Yegparian, one of our auction consignment specialists, is a cataloguer of U.S. coins in copper, silver and gold, including coins of the Colonial and Confederation periods. He is also very much involved with the day-to-day operations running the auction business. A graduate of Columbia University, Vicken was the first recipient of the Georgia Stamm Chamberlain Memorial Award of the Medal Collectors of America for his presentation on colonial era medals of his alma mater, “The Silver Medals of the King’s College Literary Society, 1767-1771,” delivered at the 2004 Coinage of the Americas Conference held by the ANS. He is a member of many numismatic organizations, including the ANA, ANS, the Colonial Coin Collectors Club, and the John Reich Collectors Society, the Liberty Seated Collectors Club and the Fly-In Club (Flying Eagle and Indian Head Collectors Club) among numerous other specialty clubs.