Bruce Smith, the chief editor of JEAN, was born in 1951 in St. Louis, MO. He received his BA in history from the University of Missouri St. Louis; and his MA in China studies from Harvard University. In 1974-1977, he worked for Krause Publications as Editorial Assistant on World Coin News and as cataloger for Standard Catalog of World Coins and Standard Catalog of World Paper Money. He was a full time coin dealer 1977-1987.
In 1988-1989, he studied in China as a student of China Studies in Chengchow (Zhengzhou) University, Henan province. In 1991-1993, Mr. Smith was a graduate student at Harvard University. In 1994-1998, he was the editor of The Journal of East Asian Numismatics (JEAN). Bruce Smith has been a collector and researcher of Chinese Coins for over 30 years. His published research in JEAN has added immensely to the body of knowledge for Chinese coins.