KEN BRESSETT INTERVIEW, PART FIVE

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V29 2026 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 29, Number 26, 2026, Article 15

Greg Bennick's latest interview for the Newman Numismatic Portal is with "Mr. Redbook". Ken Bressett. Here's the fifth of six parts, where Ken discusses his lifelong friendship with Eric P. Newman, including the New Hampshire copper, their research collaborations, and remarkable moments in the Newman home. -Editor

Ken Bressett and the Early Days of NENA News 1

GREG BENNICK: For sure. Okay, well switching gears a bit, can you tell me a little bit about meeting Eric Newman?

KEN BRESSETT: Because I was a Hampshire boy, I wanted to collect and to learn all about the only coin made for New Hampshire in the colonial times.

Sure enough, there was a copper coin dated 1776, with a New Hampshire origin. It is listed in the Red Book. I had to learn all I could about that. I learned every owner of those New Hampshire cents and the true history of them all. Eric Newman was one of those people. I wrote to him, and said, "I'm very much interested in the New Hampshire copper coins. I'm trying to learn all I can about them and I've discovered that you own one of them. Would you please tell me what you can about it, because I want to have photographs of all that I can find."

So, Eric wrote back to this young kid that he didn't know. And he said, "I'm sending you the coin so that you can examine it, and here's a few things that I know about it. And would you please return it to me when you're done?"

KEN BRESSETT: And that's how I met him. We became fast friends and ever after. I became his publisher in time, and published his great book on early American paper money. We worked on several projects, as you probably know, such as the 1804 dollar book.

KEN BRESSETT: We cooperated on that and remained friends for his entire life. Yeah, a great, great, great man. He taught me how to eat.

KEN BRESSETT: Yeah. Because, he said, "Always eat a lot of grain foods. A lot of grain foods." He advised me on some other things not to eat. That was the secret of his long life. He lived to be 106.

GREG BENNICK: He was 106, that's right. And did you say grain or green as in like the color green?

KEN BRESSETT: Yep. All I can say is I'm pretty darn healthy for a guy my age.

GREG BENNICK: You're incredibly healthy. I mean, even literally last week, I was sitting in Colorado Springs thinking, "Man, I should have exercised today." And somebody mentioned to me that you walk three miles a day or four miles or some number of miles a day? It's amazing.

KEN BRESSETT: Yep, I still do. And did today. On a good day, I'll go five miles a day.

GREG BENNICK: Wow, you've inspired me. After we get done talking, I might go for a walk. This is tremendous.

KEN BRESSETT: (Laughs) Good. Well, it's the best and most healthful thing that a person can do.

KEN BRESSETT: Yeah, well watch what you are eating. Eat just good things, vegetables and all that sort of thing.

GREG BENNICK: That's great. You were thinking before about where Eric Newman was from. Was he from St. Louis, Missouri?

GREG BENNICK: No, no problem. I mean, it's not like you've not met every single person in coins in the last few decades. So, it's understandable to forget where somebody is from.

KEN BRESSETT: Well, I visited him often, and it was always such a pleasure. One time, we were there alone. His wife, Evelyn, had gone out for something, some meeting or something. And Eric says, "Well, we got to have something to eat. It's getting late. We got to eat something. The maid has gone, the cook has gone. I don't know. I think I can do something. Oh, I'll get a pizza and I can heat it up in the kitchen."

KEN BRESSETT: He says, "I know where the kitchen is." (laughter) He says, "I'm not sure. We got to have a pan or a something here, a pot or something." That guy had never been in the kitchen.

But eating with him was an experience too. One time he said, "See that spoon you're using?" I said, "Yeah, that looks old. It looks older than the others." He says, "Yeah. That one's made by Paul Revere."

KEN BRESSETT: And then he says, "Well, that big spoon there with the salad… that's Ephraim Brasher's hallmark on it. He made that."

KEN BRESSETT: Yeah. Yeah. And while I was at his house, I always had to look at the original Declaration of Independence.

KEN BRESSETT: Now, you're going to say, he can't have the original Declaration of Independence because that's in our national collection. Well, if you stop to think about it, you can't have a declaration signed by all these states unless all of the states have their separate copies.

KEN BRESSETT: So he actually owned the Delaware copy of the Declaration of Independence. Looks just like, almost like the original. It's not quite as big, and it's printed. But he had it.

GREG BENNICK: I'm amazed. Just the fact that you're sitting around eating pizza you cooked out of a pot with Paul Revere's spoon while looking at a copy of the Declaration of Independence with Eric Newman.

KEN BRESSETT: Yes. And he's donated that since before his death. He donated the Declaration to, I think, a local museum. Great person to know. He was wonderful.

About the Interviewer
Greg Bennick (www.gregbennick.com) is a keynote speaker and long time coin collector with a focus on major mint error coins and US counterstamps. He is on the board of both CONECA and TAMS and enjoys having in-depth conversations with prominent numismatists from all areas of the hobby. Have ideas for other interviewees? Contact him anytime via instagram @minterrors. He can also be reached by email at minterrors@gmail.com.