Walter Breen

sliderider

Someone mentioned Walter Breen in another thread recently and I tried to look up some info about him. About all I could find was related to his coin encyclopedia and his pedophile conviction, but nothing else. I found one piece with a rather humorous line in it.

<<Walter Breen, born 1930, known as W. J. Brilling and J. Z. Eglinton, was another overlooked Gay genius who died largely unnoticed.>>

Overlooked gay genius?? If this is kind of person that the gay community reveres, then we better think twice about gay rights in this country.

Link to article

mgoodm3

I don't think any community reveres WB's life out of coins, except maybe NAMBLA

magikbilly

<< <i>If this is kind of person that the gay community reveres, then we better think twice about gay rights in this country. >>



Perhaps you might "think twice" before making such a wide, presumptuous and potentially insulting comment board members may find offensive, and oh.. OFF TOPIC. Unless, of course, you simply don't care.
The other night I log on and there is a pornography thread, today this OT nonsense.

sliderider earlier today - "The thing is, though, that I am legitimately interested in the threads that I post in. I don't usually post just for the sake of seeing my PC go up.

BTW PC +1 more. "

Yeah.

Best,
Billy

Shamika

Sliderider,

I must agree magikbilly. Though this board is quite right wing at times, I don't think such statements are appropriate on this board.

magikbilly

<< <i>Though this board is quite right wing at times, I don't think such statements are appropriate on this board. >>



Thanks, Shamika

Billy

Conder101

Who ever said that the gay community revered him? And he wasn't that overlooked. For his accomplishments in the various fields in which he was well known he was admired, but no one approved of his pedaphilic tendencies. If his attentions had been focused on adult homosexuals I doubt if there would have been any problems

keets

.................and here we have yet another Breen thread which will examine the whole person and attempt to discount everything based on certain aspects that are distateful.

sliderider, instead of running this all around the forum again and getting all the members who visit the thread whipped into a frothy OT frenzy, learn how to use the search function. just plug in Breen and sit back and enjoy the read. then come back to this thread and note the similarity of respondents and responses. it'll be enlightening, i'm sure.

al h.

coppercoins

and here I thought I was going to read something USEFUL...

Oh well, the board usually doesn't disappoint.

BTW, post #4000!

magikbilly

<< <i>and here I thought I was going to read something USEFUL... >>



Hi,
yes, me too. That is why I opened it to read this morning.

Best,
Billy

dorkkarl

yuk

billboat

This is an OT thread that needs to be moved to the open forum or just plain trashed.

magikbilly

<< <i>This is an OT thread that needs to be moved to the open forum or just plain trashed. >>



Hi,
I agree completely. This was not as surprising as the immature porn photo thread (Ladies??), I just wanna learn about COINS. I wanted to see this type of nonsense post removed as soon as I saw it this morning, but I do not know - to whom you would write to "report" a thread of this nature?

Best,
Billy

BASEagle

Okay, forget the gay part and the pedophile part -

Was Breen a genius?

I'd say yes.

Was he overlooked and unnoticed?

Not in the numismatic world. I'd say his name is quite well known in numismatic circles.

(This is my attempt to hijack the thread and turn it back on topic.)


Mike

ziggy29

<< <i>I agree completely. This was not as surprising as the immature porn photo thread (Ladies??), I just wanna learn about COINS. I wanted to see this type of nonsense post removed as soon as I saw it this morning, but I do not know - to whom you would write to "report" a thread of this nature? >>

I mostly agree. I don't mind the occasional OT stuff, but some of the stuff seems like it would be fairly offensive to some people. (And people wonder why there aren't many women in numismatics?) I'm not offended by much of anything personally, but I'm uneasy with seeing some of this stuff as I'm sure others would rather not be subjected to it.



<< <i>Was he overlooked and unnoticed?

Not in the numismatic world. I'd say his name is quite well known in numismatic circles. >>

True. Though even the "numismatic world" differs on whether (a) the value of his work amidst the allegations of making stuff up, and (b) whether or not his personal transgressions are so horrible that it stains his numismatic work.

keets

(a) the value of his work amidst the allegations of making stuff up

hey Ziggy

the key word being allegations.

al h.

NoGvmnt

Okay, now we know that sliderider is a homophobe, is he also a bigot?

Jim

MrEureka

no one approved of his pedaphilic tendencies.

Actually, the author of that article seems to be almost approving. And Walter's wife was far more than tolerant. And some of the so-called victims certainly approved. I mention these things, not because I approve of Breen's behavior, but because I think it's important to understand - really understand - that there are countless diverse, wildly divergent and unimaginable perspectives in this world. (Think about it: Some people actually collect sample slabs! )

And to those of you that have a problem with OT threads, I trust you have not read this far.

Catch22

Oh goody, we have a few more "I'm insulted, I'm offended, I wanna tattle on somebody" types to deal with.

wingedliberty

Yes, he's was a child molestor pig who died in prison. He wrote an encyclopedia of coins which was very useful, but I burned it when I realized what he did and replaced the vacant spot in my library with a hard cover of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. His pedophelia negated his entire numismatic work and I could not separate the man from the work , since he was so involved in the works. He often wore a toga and did not bathe. He was a pervert and I hope he is burning in hell to a crisp, over and over , and over, and over again. Anyone who violates the emotional and physical innocense of children like that, is a demonic vermin.

Conder101

Since Walter's work is very ingrained in so many areas of numismatics and has been used by many other authors, I hope you burned the rest of your numismatic library as well.

wingedliberty

Typical hippie culture response.

DeepCoin

Breen is dead and the scholarship remains. I abhor his lifestyle and personal actions, but the data involving coins is still valuable. To disregard the information is foolish. If he built a bridge would you tear it down?

As a person he was slime, but he gets no benefit from my use of his research. I will continue to use my Encyclopedia.

Conder101

<< <i>Yes, he's was a child molestor pig who died in prison. He wrote an encyclopedia of coins which was very useful, but I burned it when I realized what he did and replaced the vacant spot in my library with a hard cover of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. His pedophelia negated his entire numismatic work and I could not separate the man from the work , >>


Typical establishment kneejerk over reaction. He does something you don't approve of so you condemn EVERYTHING he did.

UncleJoe

Typical establishment kneejerk over reaction. He does something you don't approve of so you condemn EVERYTHING he did.

Au contraire. He apparentely did think it out and very well I might add. His actions are what he could live with of which you apparentely disapprove.

Some are able to forgive and/or forget (?) transgressions while others cannot. I do not say that one is right or the other is wrong. You should do what is right for you.

IMO. Joe.

au58

And therein lies the single largest problem with this forum - challenging another's opinion just because it differs from yours. Sure, a lot of people disagree with Sliderider (on many counts, so it seems). But that doesn't make his opinion less valid. If you have an opinion of Walter Breen, express it, but then let it stand on its merits. There is no reason to temper or qualify your opinion by comparing it to what Sliderider has to say. This tactic is, unfortunaltely, pervasive on this board.

If you went out to the link provided by Sliderider, and if you believe what the author in the link has to say, then yes, Breen's activities were condoned on a number of levels and in a number of circles. If you ever met Breen, you couldn't help but know that he had some issues. The fact that he was a child molester is abhorrent.

ziggy29

<< <i>Au contraire. He apparentely did think it out and very well I might add. His actions are what he could live with of which you apparentely disapprove. >>

Agreed. While I don't see why the scholarship and the "off-the-field behavior" need to be coupled so tightly that the research should be disregarded if not destroyed, I also can understand how some people can feel that way -- especially if incidents like those involving Breen happened to someone very close to them.

I don't see why the research is suddenly tainted (unless someone shows evidence that his research was obtained through some of his abhorrent activities), but I'm just one person with one opinion.

magikbilly

<< <i>Yes, he's was a child molestor pig who died in prison. He wrote an encyclopedia of coins which was very useful, but I burned it when I realized what he did and replaced the vacant spot in my library with a hard cover of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. His pedophelia negated his entire numismatic work and I could not separate the man from the work , since he was so involved in the works. He often wore a toga and did not bathe. He was a pervert and I hope he is burning in hell to a crisp, over and over , and over, and over again. Anyone who violates the emotional and physical innocense of children like that, is a demonic vermin. >>



Umm, weren't the book burners in 451 the bad guys? Just kidding If you REALLY know that book you'll know that Bradbury wrote an addition that went on to explain that Beatty had the largest library of all - he just never reads it.


Best,
Billy

PS - I am "done"with this thread. My point was the original midless off-topic post - nothing more. All I have to say about Walter is I wish I still had that crazy pink letter and the 82CC dollar that went with it