FA: Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins

"jeff" wrote in message
news:saoNj.9243$XF3.4070@trnddc04...
This is not a case of without sin, this person abused children
which in my book, makes any and all of his previous
actions unacceptable. No matter how smart he was about
numismatics, his other actions outweigh any benefit.

Have it your way, Jeff. I'm sorry to see that you view the world in black
and white. But while you're at it, then, let's throw out William Sheldon
and, if the whole truth were known about the leaders in today's numismatic
community, I'll wager that at least half of them would have to go also, by
your standards. And what sins may lurk within you that might make you a
candidate for the dung heap?

James

On Apr 16, 10:37*am, jeff wrote:
This is not a case of without sin, this person abused children
which in my book, makes any and all of his previous
actions unacceptable. No matter how smart he was about
numismatics, his other actions outweigh any benefit.

His conduct with children was reprehensible but it in no way affects
his work as a numismatist.
Hell, even Mussolini got the trains to run on time!

"RF" wrote in message
...
On Apr 16, 10:37 am, jeff wrote:
This is not a case of without sin, this person abused children
which in my book, makes any and all of his previous
actions unacceptable. No matter how smart he was about
numismatics, his other actions outweigh any benefit.

His conduct with children was reprehensible but it in no way affects
his work as a numismatist.
Hell, even Mussolini got the trains to run on time!

-------------------------------

Exactly. The number of shady characters, shysters, and just plain jerks in
the coin industry is appalling, but, hey, if they help me fill a void in my
collection...

James

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:34:59 -0700 (PDT), bgg wrote:
On Apr 13, 7:40*pm, "Bob Rinaldi w1cny" wrote:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=220223681072&...

I guess this is out of print now. Will there be new edition or
printing?

Dunno, but I bought one a month or two back and am VERY happy with it.
Given that he's dead, I doubt if he'll be updating it. A reprint run
would have to be profitable - hard to say. In the meantime the
information, to me, was worth the 3 bills or so it cost me.

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:09:36 GMT, jeff wrote:
Walter Breen was a convicted pedophile.
He is of no use to the numismatic fraternity.

How does the author's non-coin related problems change the scholarship
of his publication, exactly?

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:20:25 -0500, Mr. Jaggers lugburzman wrote:

Have it your way, Jeff. I'm sorry to see that you view the world in black
and white. But while you're at it, then, let's throw out William Sheldon
and, if the whole truth were known about the leaders in today's numismatic
community, I'll wager that at least half of them would have to go also, by
your standards. And what sins may lurk within you that might make you a
candidate for the dung heap?

I wonder if Mozart passes his ethical test, or his output is meaningless
as well. Or any of dozens of other artists in their various fields.

"Dave Hinz" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:34:59 -0700 (PDT), bgg wrote:
On Apr 13, 7:40 pm, "Bob Rinaldi w1cny" wrote:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=220223681072&...

I guess this is out of print now. Will there be new edition or
printing?

Dunno, but I bought one a month or two back and am VERY happy with it.
Given that he's dead, I doubt if he'll be updating it. A reprint run
would have to be profitable - hard to say. In the meantime the
information, to me, was worth the 3 bills or so it cost me.

You'll want to handle your book with great care. Many of the copies were
not bound very well, and with anything beyond gentle use, will start
shedding pages. And don't put too much pressure on the book to lie flat
when open.

James

On 16 Apr 2008 23:59:15 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

How does the author's non-coin related problems change the scholarship
of his publication, exactly?

This has all been talked about, in great detail, here before. Breen
was guilty of ethical lapses in his numismatic scholarship as he was
in his personal life, from exaggerating way beyond the evidence for
the dramatic affect to making up facts out of whole cloth. Google
Groups this if you want the specifics. The most interesting thing is
how people defend him, a child rapist ("molester" is a euphemism for
what he actually did). Those who went through his encyclopedia and
checked it against the sources he used found something like one error
per page, a staggering error rate, one person anyway, as I recall, or
maybe there were others too. I personally found errors in checking
what he wrote in an area I looked into in detail, the iconography of
the Draped Bust coins.

People to this day still trust him, but he can't, and couldn't, be
trusted. And people, some people, who knew him made up lots of excuses
for him -- his memory was failing because of his drug abuse, he lost
his notes in a fire, so on and so forth. In his prime he was said to
be an superb researcher with a photographic memory, but he wrote his
encyclopedia and other work way past his prime. People still swallow
uncritically what he wrote. The main problem is that nobody has
checked anywhere close of all of his "facts." So you're left with not
knowing what he made up, what he just exaggerated, what he
misremembered, and what he got right. But most people are unaware of
this and regard him as the great encyclopedist of numismatics,
believing everything he wrote.

--

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Consumer: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
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"Reid Goldsborough" wrote in message
...
On 16 Apr 2008 23:59:15 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

How does the author's non-coin related problems change the scholarship
of his publication, exactly?

This has all been talked about, in great detail, here before. Breen
was guilty of ethical lapses in his numismatic scholarship as he was
in his personal life, from exaggerating way beyond the evidence for
the dramatic affect to making up facts out of whole cloth. Google
Groups this if you want the specifics. The most interesting thing is
how people defend him, a child rapist ("molester" is a euphemism for
what he actually did). Those who went through his encyclopedia and
checked it against the sources he used found something like one error
per page, a staggering error rate, one person anyway, as I recall, or
maybe there were others too. I personally found errors in checking
what he wrote in an area I looked into in detail, the iconography of
the Draped Bust coins.

People to this day still trust him, but he can't, and couldn't, be
trusted. And people, some people, who knew him made up lots of excuses
for him -- his memory was failing because of his drug abuse, he lost
his notes in a fire, so on and so forth. In his prime he was said to
be an superb researcher with a photographic memory, but he wrote his
encyclopedia and other work way past his prime. People still swallow
uncritically what he wrote. The main problem is that nobody has
checked anywhere close of all of his "facts." So you're left with not
knowing what he made up, what he just exaggerated, what he
misremembered, and what he got right. But most people are unaware of
this and regard him as the great encyclopedist of numismatics,
believing everything he wrote.

Walter Breen said it, I believe it, and that settles it.

James

On Apr 17, 12:30*am, Reid Goldsborough
wrote:
The most interesting thing is
how people defend him, a child rapist ("molester" is a euphemism for
what he actually did).

Nobody here "defended" his perversion (which is indefensible), merely
his scholarship.
Of course, you are perfect and never made an error.
You're SO predictable.