In 1945–46, his next exposure to numismatics was a friend’s home in which a dozen or more Indian Head cents were embedded face-up in a concrete walk near the front door.

[2] As a 13-year-old high school student, Bowers's interests included reptiles, scouting, short-wave radio, Strombecker kit models of World War II airplanes, and rocks and minerals.

[2] He carefully explained that it was a Lincoln cent made in the first year of issue, 1909, with the initials of the designer, Victor David Brenner, V.D.B., on the reverse.

Inspired with the idea of making money by selling coins, rather than cutting grass, Bowers traded a $10 bill for 1,000 mixed Lincoln cents.

[2] From finding Lincoln cents in circulation, Bowers moved towards other series, including Mercury dimes and Standing Liberty quarters.

Seeking to gain more knowledge, Bowers discovered the Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine, a monthly journal put out by brothers Lee and Cliff Hewitt in Illinois.

[6] By his senior year in high school, his business was flourishing, and coin dealing had become the young entrepreneur's principal extracurricular activity.

He was a finalist in the first National Merit Scholarship competition in 1956, and he won further academic distinction at Penn State University, graduating with honors in 1960.

[5] In 1958, while still in college, Bowers teamed up with James F. Ruddy — the first of several partners to figure in his career — to form the Empire Coin Co. in Johnson City, New York.

[1] Bowers'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.

[4] He is highly regarded as a very prolific numismatic author too, having produced 50 works, mostly written in the field of rare coins, including the following:[1] Bowers serves as Numismatic Director of Whitman Publishing LLC, where he has produced another group of books including the Bowers Series covering various coin types in detail.

[13] The column went into re-runs following his retirement, and its previous articles are archived on The E-Sylum, an online forum run by the Numismatic Bibliomania Society.

[14] Bowers's interest in cinema history dates from August 1957, when on a visit to Philadelphia's Pine Street district of antiques shops he purchased a collection of one-sheet Biograph, Vitagraph, and other silent film posters which had been deaccessioned by Harvard University and sold to a dealer in old prints.

[4] Since then he has built an archive of cinema periodicals and publications, including many items formerly the property of George Kleine, Martin Quigley, William Fox, and other notables in the industry.

[4] By the middle of the 1960s Bowers had assembled a large personal collection of player pianos, orchestrions, and other antique automated musical instruments.