MANY STORIES ABOUT THE MAN, I don't care about this dude personal life, I'm glad the pedo paid for his crime and as we say kharmas a bATCHh he'll get. His in the end .. But his Numismatic knowledge is the only field I need to associate the dude with. He's dead anyway. His books are still used today which is amazing I have 2-3 breen Numismatic references and 5-9 breen catalogued coins... Which still carry a premium today.. Now in the modernesque. Age where breens outdated and Krause and Fivaz and Stanton are prone to more advancements . it's good to look back on some of the old books of the day in my reference library...
Don't need Breen. Dave Bowers is one of the greatest hobby Ambassadors ever. And he's written dozens and dozens of reference books.
Breen started quite a bit, but others have improved on his work over the years so I seldom use any Breen reference anymore.
I will still use his references from time to time, but I will usually look elsewhere first. His encyclopedia has a ton of good information, but other more series specific books usually go more in depth.
Interesting topic, moral dilemma.... We seek the knowledge provided by perceived evil, mortal, being.
I still use the Encyclopedia of US Coins by Breen, but he was an animal. Just remember, Walter never met a fact that he couldn't make up
Despite being a very gifted polymath, his pedophilia throws it all in the trash. At least for me. It kind of makes me angry, because if you read just a bit of his work, you'll notice that he was probably the best writer about coins in the English language that we've had. He had a very acute command of English, and was not afraid to write about numismatics with an interesting, humorous, and "scholarly" voice. We need more, equally gifted writers; Ones that don't come with Breen's foul baggage. (Also, I see that Coin Week has taken down the video of David Lisot's 1986 interview with Breen)
I have to agree. No matter what a man or woman does in their life; when child molestation is thrown in; all his good works are thrown out. He will be remembered for both his outstanding numismatic knowledge and for his shortcomings that revolved around his personal life.
Focusing only on his numismatic work: Breen is well known to have "speculated" about many details. All of his books have been superseded by better authors who actually did research. Many of the fairy tales he promulgated have infested numismatics, and it'll take a team of ghostbusters to squash all the numismyth out there. If you want accurate information, read anyone but Breen.
