Interesting comparison between Breen, Akers, and Bass in the new $3 Gold book by Bowers/Winter

Longacre

In the new $3 gold book by Bowers/Winter, they made an interesting comment about Breen, Akers, and Bass. In it, they said something along the lines of (not a direct quote), "the Breen encyclopedia is a little suspect when it comes to $3 gold, the Akers book on $3 gold, although it was written around 1979 is still very useful today, and the personal notes of Harry Bass on $3 gold are DEFINITIVE."

Did anyone on these boards work with Bass or have knowledge of the depth of his understanding of the $3 series and gold coins in general? From what I have read, he did study gold coins in detail and even collected by variety. And of course, his collection of gold coins is one of the best ever formed.

I just found that quote above to be very interesting. Does anyone have any comments?

Julian

I knew Harry very well and worked with him during his entire collecting career. He enjoyed the unexplored and less popular rarities, such as die varieties, etc. Harry, after purchasing the 70-s, from the Eliasberg collection in 1982, had the only complete collection of $3's. It is a short set, but he enjoyed finding new things. He used Breen, as a starting point, but found new varieties, along the way. He did research into the 1873's, that was ground breaking.

I fully endorse the comments reported by Dave.

michael

i think the breen comments on the civil war era gold 3 dollars is right on the money

michael

threes

Newmismatist

Harry Bass was VERY knowledgeable - he attended a lot of auctions and looked at a lot of coins - he did NOT simply tell a dealer "Here's a million dollars, buy me some nice coins." He was also very interested in what he was doing. I had seen Harry Bass at coin shows and at auctions - (I was actively buying $3 Gold Proofs at the time) - I sat next to him at a Stack's auction during lot viewing and we were both looking at the $3 gold coins - I came across a 1884 that was marked Gem Unc in the catalogue - I looked at it very carefully and concluded that it was a proof - I showed it to Mr. Bass and commented that they had "mis-graded" the 1884 - it was really a proof - he looked at it very carefully - we discussed the different attributes of PL early strike Uncs and Proofs - After a few minutes and after carefully looking at it with a 10x loupe he said "I think you're right, it's a proof." Harry Bass then called over one of the senior Stack's brother's (I think Norman - might have been Harvey) and showed it to him and carefully explained that it was a proof and why it was a proof. Mr. Stack looked at it, agreed, thanked him and said they would take care of the mis-attribution - Harry Bass pointed to me and said - "don't thank me, thank this gentleman - he found it and pointed it out to me." At that evening's session, they announced that the 1884 was a Proof and not a MS coin. I firmly believe that had I told Stacks that I thought the coin was a proof they wouldn't have given it a second look. When Harry Bass told them that he thought it was a proof and not MS as catelogued, they listened to him - he had great credibility when it came to coins. - all I knew was that if Harry Bass wanted a coin - HE bought it - He was seldom out-bid.

Dave Akers is also very knowledgeable - I have seen many skilled dealers bring a gold coins to Dave Akers andask his advice and opinion - he is very knowledgeable and well respected when it comes to gold coins - definately a "Go-to" person if you were collecting gold coins in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. HIs book on United States Pattern Gold coins is one of the best books on coins that I have ever seen!

I don't have any personal knowledge as to Walter Breen, - there are stories that after he got into trouble he was reduced to "selling" his opinions to make ends meet - If true that's probably why he lost the respect of the numismatic community. If an opinion is based on whether whoever made the request was willing to pay several thousand dollars to receive the "right" answer (you know the one that makes the coin worth a lot more) - it's easy to see how the credibility of the person rendering the opinion might become a bit tarnished.
That said, in Breen's younger years he was consider a very knowledgeable coin "geek" and did extensive research and published several excellent books.

michael