Kenneth Edward Bressett is an American numismatist. He has actively promoted the study and hobby of numismatics for over 50 years. His published works on the subject cover a wide range of topics and extend from short articles to standard reference books on such diverse areas as ancient coins, paper money, British coins and United States coins.
Career
Throughout his career he has worked as an author, editor and publisher of books and products for coin collectors. He has also taught the subject to hundreds of students through courses at Colorado College and other places. From 1983 to 1988 he served as Director of Coin Authentication and Educational Programs for the American Numismatic Association. Subsequently he served on the ANA Board of Governors, later as Vice President and then as President from 1993 to 1995. Bressett was appointed to the United States Assay Commission in 1966 by President Lyndon Johnson, and in 1996 was made a member of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his service and dedication to numismatics, including election to the National Numismatic Hall of Fame, The American Numismatic Association Medal of Merit, and the Farran Zerbe Memorial Award. Bressett first became interested in coins in 1937 when his neighbor gave him a coin each from China and Belgium. He began collecting coins in earnest while he was a clerk in a grocery store in 1943 and through high school. Bressett attended Dresser Business School in 1947 and later studied graphic arts at the University of Wisconsin. He joined the American Numismatic Association in 1947 and attended their convention in Boston the following year. From 1949 until 1959 Bressett worked as a printer and compositor for Sentinel Publishing Company. Bressett began free-lance editorial work on Red Book in 1956. He went to work for Richard S. Yeoman at Whitman Publishing in Racine in 1959. He wrote several books while at the publishing house and in 1962 became the editor of the Whitman Red Book and Blue Book. From 1964 to 1968 Bressett was the Editor and Publisher of the Whitman Numismatic Journal. In 1971, following Yeoman’s retirement, he became editor of the Red Book. Bressett worked as a consultant for the F. Newell Childs collection that later sold at auction for over $8 million. In 1966, he was appointed to the U.S. Assay Commission by President Lyndon B. Johnson. He taught at the ANA Summer Seminar in 1975. In 1980, Bressett left Whitman to work for A. M. Kagin in Des Moines, Iowa. From 1982 to 1988 he worked at ANA as Director of ANACS. In 1986, he dove with Mel Fisher in Florida for treasure of the sunken Nuestra Señora de Atocha. Bressett was on the Board of Governors from 1989 to 1994 and served as President from 1995 to 1997. In 1996, he was inducted to the ANA Hall of Fame. For the next few years, he promoted the Peace 2000 project around the world. He served on the CCCAC commission from 1996 to 2003 and promoted the 50 State Quarters program. Bressett retired from full-time editing in 2018 and is now listed as “editor emeritus”.
