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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,968 |
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New Member
United States
11 Posts |
I recently obtained a 1874-CC Trade dollar. It has a Breen number of 5786. I'm going to confess my ignorance as to what this signifies. I have sent for Breens' encyclopedia from the ANA but was wondering if anyone can clue me in here. Thanks for any help. As you can see, I'm a newbie here. I can show pics if that would help. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
Walter Breen was a numismatic historian who wrote, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins. "Breen numbers", from his encyclopedia, are widely used to attribute varieties of coins. Each cataloged coin and variety have a distinct "Breen number" which is used to identify the coin.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4212 Posts |
Though highly used, his #s belie the fact he died in Chino prison for many counts of child molesting.
I give him no credence.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2543 Posts |
Quote:
his #s belie the fact he died in Chino prison for many counts of child molesting. Someone's been reading Wikipedia ........  |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Breen's critical flaws don't change his skill as maybe the preeminent numismatic researcher of all time. He was a true generalist in a hobby whose complexity prohibits that degree of generalized knowledge. There are flaws in his works, occasional excesses of a man who knew he was the apex predator of his niche, but there really isn't a whole lot we know about any US issue that Breen didn't talk about at one point or another. The guy has very_few peers in the history of numismatics.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
937 Posts |
Quote:
Though highly used, his #s belie the fact he died in Chino prison for many counts of child molesting.
I give him no credence. Breen was one of the leading numismatic minds of his day. Although in the ensuing years some of his words have been proven to be less than accurate his knowledge was still exceptional. It is unwise to reject his numismatic knowledge out of hand. As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse any other words I have about him are not suitable for this forum or any other polite gathering. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
917 Posts |
It means that whom even had the coin before you thought that the CC mint mark was the Micro variety. Yes pictures would be great. The mint mark should be .74mm high and a .75mm spacing between the Cs .
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2540 Posts |
Just remember that Breen never met a fact that he couldn't make up
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Valued Member
United States
179 Posts |
Yes Breens Encyclopedia has some errors. BUT until
YOU can do better lay off the generalized notion that the book is one big Lie. It is NOT. Breen was a flawed person. Anyone without flaws is free to criticize him.
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Valued Member
United States
179 Posts |
Breen numbers today have most value as variety designations.
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Valued Member
United States
179 Posts |
Breen must have chuckled as coin number 1824 is an 1824 large cent!
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,968 |
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Posted 11/21/2014 1:34 pm
