Who was Walter Breen?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by cplradar, Oct 15, 2021.

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  1. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Let's not !
     
    micbraun, cplradar, Kentucky and 4 others like this.
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  3. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    Thank you.
     
    Kentucky and Oldhoopster like this.
  4. OldSilverDollar

    OldSilverDollar Unknown Member

    Wednesday I'll write a very long detailed response in Defense of Walter Breen(It's my day off), while on a personnel level I do not like him at all, this ill talk of the dead demands it from me and I plan to make a valiant defense.
     
    charley likes this.
  5. OldSilverDollar

    OldSilverDollar Unknown Member

    Well just as all the crime threads was leading to your own experience with a crime against a family member that you had a hard time expressing. just know we are here for you if you have something to share, most here can help guide you through an emotional storm you might feeling. It's Ok just let it out if there is something to to express.
     
  6. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    Save your time, theres no defending molesting young children for years and years if not decades. We're not talking about a 22 year old with a 17 year old either, this was an elderly man with preteens that was convicted in court for it
     
  7. OldSilverDollar

    OldSilverDollar Unknown Member

    Heading to work now but we shall see I plan a very elegantly put defense using several avenues of presentation.
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2021
    charley likes this.
  8. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    Again theres no defending a convicted child molester. You arent going to change anyones mind other than some people might change their opinion of you for attempting to justify his heinous crimes
     
  9. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    Stop being a jerk. You only come here to fight with others and harass them. Every member that has posted has said how bad Breen is.
     
  10. baseball21

    baseball21 Well-Known Member

    :rolleyes: I forgot some of you just want everyone to be gum drops and lollipops about everything.

    The ironic part is I was actually being nice telling him not to waste his time trying to defend Breen. I guarantee you there will be people that look at such an attempt in disgust and it won't just be me. Anyone whose looked into what Breen did would see just how YOUNG his victims were and how it was a long term pattern of behavior.

    There is simply no defending molesting children. You can defend his work eventhough he was known to make things up, but you cannot defend the man
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2021
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  11. calcol

    calcol Supporter! Supporter

    Important contributions to numismatics can’t be erased even if their creator/discoverer is eventually revealed as having committed despicable acts. If they are dead, they can’t benefit from such use, including acquiring their publications. Although this thread is about Breen, I point out that every time we use the 70-point grading scale, we’re using a creation of William Sheldon. Google his name to find out the bad things he did. I doubt anyone is going to quit using the 1-70 scale because it was started by Sheldon.

    Using or admiring the creations of persons who have done bad acts is common. Read a bit about the personal history of the chief draftsman of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. We commonly watch or buy movies that are the creations of actors, directors or producers that have behaved abominably in their personal lives. Some religious leaders … I won’t go there. But choose any field of endeavor or learning, and you’ll find that some important contributions were made by people who were reprehensible in other parts of their lives.

    Cal
     
  12. Jim Dale

    Jim Dale Well-Known Member

    Due to Breen's cancer, he probably lived out the rest of his life in a hospital or prison hospital. I had a good friend that my wife taught in high school. She went through hell for seven years with treatment after treatment. She ended up dying at home because they couldn't do anything for her.
    I hope Breen went through the hell my friend did and she did nothing to anyone and she paid a horrible price.
    As mentioned earlier by Cal, the hobby benefited from Breen's work, but I would never use one word of anything he published, even if he was the only source.
     
  13. manny9655

    manny9655 Well-Known Member

    There have been other examples of coins that were thought to be rare by many people, but turned out not to be, because of subsequent finds, etc. The 1904-O Morgan dollar is a good example. So we can't necessarily blame Breen for his thoughts. I'm not familiar with any of his writings, though.
     
    OldSilverDollar and cplradar like this.
  14. masterswimmer

    masterswimmer A Caretaker, can't take it with me

    As stated by @baseball21 , save your breath, your time and any effort you intend to put together in defense of the abhorrent and repugnant Breen. Hopefully he's rotting in hell.

    There is absolutely zero defense you can scrape together to defend that POS.

    He must have spent a lot of time protected in the prison system hospital because even inmates of the lowest magnitude levy street justice on pedophiles. Even the lowest of the low find pedo's despicable. That alone speaks volumes.
     
  15. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Collectors don’t realize how good they have it these days. Back in the 1960s and ‘70s, there wasn’t a lot of good and interesting numismatic information available on U.S. coins. Walter Breen and Don Taxi were the main authors who provided most of the information at that time, and Breen was the better writer in my opinion.

    Yes, Breen’s personal conduct was reprehensible, but his work greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the hobby at that time.
     
  16. charley

    charley Well-Known Member

    Not for or against either position.....with the caveat that the member you are directing your response is referring to the numismatic research by Breen, and I am replying to your post in that regard only.....would you rank the crimes of Breen as the equal of, or worse than the crimes of rape or murder? I ask, because it is very probable you have read numismatic publications, and many other well known popular publications, including general education text books, science and technology research, by persons living and dead, that are guilty of the crimes of rape and murder (and pedophilia, btw).

    Research in any field of endeavor that benefits the subject being explored should not be relegated to the oft quoted Fahrenheit 451 final solution, in my opinion.
     
    OldSilverDollar likes this.
  17. Santinidollar

    Santinidollar Supporter! Supporter

    Since any spirited defense of a pedophile is likely to set me off, I’m putting this thread on ignore. I could easily say something that would have me escorted to the banned list.
     
    masterswimmer, AdamL and baseball21 like this.
  18. cplradar

    cplradar Talmud Chuchum

    there hasn't been any spirited defense of a pedophile... at least not here. There hasn't been any half hearted defense, or even words of toleance of such activities. It is safe to say that all the posts here have been explicitedly against pedophilia and condeming those who have been covicted of such crimes, including Breen.
     
    Jim Dale likes this.
  19. CamaroDMD

    CamaroDMD [Insert Clever Title] Supporter

    I'm not sure how much defense of the man there can be. As for "ill talk of the dead"...well, we earn our legacy and memory. Those who commit terrible acts earn the legacy that comes with it. Just because they are not here to (attempt) to defend themselves doesn't mean that their behavior should be forgotten.

    Breen is a man who provided a significant advancement of the study of US coinage. Although some of his data is how outdated, that doesn't diminish what he achieved with his work. But, his professional success also doesn't excuse his behavior.

    I honestly don't have an issue utilizing his work or seeing it's benefit. I personally don't see an ethical issue with this because it is in no way tied to his criminal behavior...meaning the work he did in the field of numismatics was in no way benefited by his crimes. Therefore, in my eyes, they are not connected.

    I also don't see an issue with very publicly calling out his crimes and making it clear that his behavior as a human being was deplorable.
     
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  20. cplradar

    cplradar Talmud Chuchum


    There are books dedicated to outlining errors in compeniums and commenting on them. It is all over the art work and critism of hisorical works is a key part of education and research in the field.

    Editing is forever.
     
    -jeffB likes this.
  21. KSorbo

    KSorbo Well-Known Member

    I don’t see how any of this is applicable to the present day. If the information Breen published is still useful then it stands on its own merits regardless of authorship. Censoring or “cancelling” it benefits no one. Nor does it undo his crimes or change the fact that he was a despicable human being.
     
    OldSilverDollar, cplradar and tibor like this.
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