HEAD OF COPPER, FEET OF CLAY

1. Walter Breen submitted an article to the November 15, 1984, issue of Penny-Wise titled, "HEAD OF COPPER, FEET OF CLAY, referring to Dr. William H. Sheldon. Walter considered Sheldon as a mentor, both for the study of coins and for the study of human physiology.

Sheldon wrote the standard reference on the early date (1793-1814) large cent series in Early American Cents and the revised Penny Whimsy. He developed the "science of cent values" and the 70-point grading scale.

Breen correctly observed that Sheldon's methods for valuing coins did not work while Sheldon continued to try to modify his methods to fit the data.

Dr. Sheldon also developed a science for evaluating human physiology based on a study of nude photos of college students as a predictor of temperament and personality. Breen pointed out that also did not work while Sheldon would not admit the flaws of his theories. Breen called Sheldon anti-Semitic and a racist.

The New York Times published "The Great Ivy League Nude Posture Photo Scandal" in their issue of January 1995. By then, the studies of Sheldon had been discredited.

Dr. Sheldon was also accused of exchanging 129 cents from his collection for better examples at the American Numismatic Society. A lawsuit resulted in many examples being returned.

2. Walter Breen took on a revision of Penny Whimsy which was eventually published as Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of Early United States Cents 1793-1814. Breen was generally respected as the eccentric writer of hundreds of articles.

Breen was also respected in the NAMbLA community as the author, under a pseudonym, of Greek Love (1964).

In 1954, Walter was charged for an incident under the boardwalk in Atlantic City. The Press of Atlantic City had a headline "Coin Expert Penalized in Morals Case" on June 23, 1954. He was fined $200.

Breen regularly attended science fiction conventions. Attempts were made to ban him from Pacificon II in 1964 in a scandal that has come to be known as "Breendoggle."

Breen was convicted of child molestation in 1990 and put on probation. He was charged again in 1991 and sent to prison. He died in prison on April 27, 1993.

3. Breen and Sheldon collaborated to compile "Profiles of Old Time Collectors and Dealers" published in United States Large Cents 1793-1857 (1975). This was their description of Francis Worcester Doughty:

This characterization was repeated in Walter Breen's Encyclopedia of United States Half cents 1793-1857 (1983).

Doughty was married to Elizabeth Splint (1857-1921) in Manhattan on February 24, 1885. They had four children.

Doughty was a prolific writer during the "Dime Novel" era with a writing career that spanned about 1885 to 1915. He is credited with 1500 books requiring production of about one per week during the period. Extended series included the characters Old King Brady and Nick Carter.

He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Benton Bertrew, Albert J. Booth, Allyn Draper, Gaston Game, Richard R. Montgomery, and Percy St. John.

Unlike Breen, Jess Nevins wrote: "Doughty was probably the best-known writer of dime novels, and next to Frederic Van Rensselaer Dey the best dime novel writer. Although Doughty's work suffered from being written on a deadline, it is generally far more intelligent and imaginative than the work of other dime novel writers."

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction states "US numismatist, scholar, screenwriter and author whose well written. ingenious and original dime novels have often been considered the finest examples of the category."

Doughty compiled Cents of the United States that was published in 1890. It included material written by David Proskey and serialized in the Coin Collector's Journal from 1879 to 1883. The series ended when the periodical ended production in 1888. The book covered die varieties of the cents of 1793 to 1814 as described by earlier authors.

The INTRODUCTORY text ends with the title, "CENTS OF THE UNITED STATES." This is a literary device frequently used in his novels where the book title is repeated in the last sentence.

Cents of the United States was reprinted in a hardbound edition by Rollo Gilmore in 1933 and another by Holland A. Davis in 1934.

The Francis W. Doughty collection of Coins, Medals and Books was sold at auction by The New York Stamp and Coin Co. on April 14-16, 1891. The sale included 1539 lots. Cent varieties were not identified by Doughty numbers but the 1794's were identified by Maris numbers. He had a long list of patterns that sold at ridiculously low prices. Overall, the collection was respectable indicating that Doughty was a serious collector.

Doughty joined the American Numismatic Society as a corresponding member on May 20, 1895. He was an active member of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.

More of the Doughty collection was sold at auction by Thomas Elder in his 27th sale of April 5, 1909, the 28th sale of April 9, 1909, and the 29th sale of April 30, 1909. An additional Elder sale was conducted on September 28, 1916.

The auctions included an extensive library. Doughty had historical books, maps and newspaper clippings that were used as references for his stories.

A specialized collection of Doughty's Elephant Coins and Medals was conducted by the U. S. Coin Company on January 22, 1914. The first 170 lots included the elephant items.

Later in life he wrote movie scripts including "The Twenty Million Dollar Mystery."

He died at home in Cresskill, New Jersey, on October 30, 1917, and was buried at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Doughty wrote Evidences of Man in the Drift: A Description of Certain Archaeological Objects Recently Discovered in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. (1892). He believed that rocks found in the glacial drift included primitive art dating back to the Tertiary Period. This is an obsolete term representing 66 million to 2.6 million years ago.

He agreed in concept with Ignatius L. Donnelly (1831-1901) who served in the Minnesota Senate. In his 1883 book, Ragnarok, Donnelly speculated that a huge comet struck the Earth thirty-thousand years ago, wiped out an earlier civilization and threw up the gravel found in the drift.

Doughty read a paper before the American Numismatic and Archeological Society announcing his discoveries on March 28, 1892. He exhibited many of the discoveries he claimed originated before the last ice age.

Some of items were carved from purple slate in the forms of animals and the human head. Others were tablets made of baked clay, carved and painted. Thus his theory was built on a foundation of New Jersey clay.

Actual scientists debunked the book as pseudoscience. Archaeologist A. F. Berlin wrote that the book made "absurd and ridiculous statements, assertions a true archaeologist would not for moment give a thought, and much less print." Geologist William John McGee wrote that it was a "bundle of absurdities worthy of notice only because it is representative of the vain imaginings so prevalent among unscientific collectors."

Doughty, Sheldon and Breen had much in common. Each wrote a book on the early cents. Each received acclaim for their early works. Each also wrote about theories that have come to be rejected by most readers. Each could be considered an example of "Head of copper, feet of clay."

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