Born in Pittsburgh. Married to Margaret with two sons and three daughters. Funeral director in Pittsburgh at Byrne Memorial Home until retirement in 1976. He was a part time scout for the Pittsburgh Steelers and wrote 57 Years on Pittsburgh Gridirons.

His collecting specialty was coins and tokens of the West Indies. He received six Heath Literary Awards for articles published in The Numismatist. His exhibit at the 1973 ANA convention won the Howland Wood Award for Best of Show.

Byrne served on the ANA board of governors 1965 to 1967 and received the ANA Medal of Merit in 1971. He served on the 1969 Assay Commission. He was a member of the NLG and won the "Clemy" award in 1975. He served as president of the Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania and Allegheny-Kiski Valley Numismatic Society. Byrne was a volunteer at the Carnegie Museum. In 1979 he provided funds for a new medal for the Howland Wood Memorial Award.

He died at home in Delray Beach, Florida. His collection was sold at auction in three sales conducted by Jess Peters in 1975 and 1977 and one by Superior in 1976. His library was in the Jess Peters sale September 26, 1975.

profile: NN-WWH 7/25/81

obit: CW 6/24/81; NN 6/20/1981;

NUM 94 Aug 1981 pages 2142-2143 DOB:SSDI