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My Latest Gunsmith C/S On An 1867 Shield Nickel

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Pillar of the Community
United States
4421 Posts
 Posted 02/17/2021  10:39 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add ExoGuy to your friends list

Quote:
The font on the knuckleduster looks different than the Shield nickel


@ TNG .... I humbly beg to differ with your observation. Note the outstretched leg and curled foot on the R in FRIEND. Note how the N leans toward the D. Compare the serifs. Wear on the coin and the pistol does muddy the view a bit, but I'm seeing a match. Let's see what others say .... Otherwise, I'm happy to see you like the post!
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United States
3663 Posts
 Posted 02/17/2021  10:59 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add fortcollins to your friends list
Fascinating post! Threads like this open my eyes to parts of the hobby that I never knew existed. I appreciate the opportunity to learn. Thank you!
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4421 Posts
 Posted 02/17/2021  11:08 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add ExoGuy to your friends list
@ fortcollins .... My pleasure. I've been at this hobby for 65 years now .... Still learning!
Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts
 Posted 02/18/2021  09:18 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add TNG to your friends list

Quote:
TNG .... I humbly beg to differ with your observation.


I agree and stand humbly corrected. I think without reading the actual wording, I was comparing the lettering on the REID piece(s) and compared the REI and RIE without realizing it at the time in the wrong picture.
Sorry to have you take the time to point that out. Yes you are absolutely correct in your response.
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4233 Posts
 Posted 02/18/2021  10:35 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add kbbpll to your friends list
Sorry, I was confused. The first paragraph seemed like it was about Deringer so I thought the first coin was his.

HistoryNet says "Doctors diagnosed Reid's 9- year-old daughter, Annie, with an unnamed lung disease and advised him to move her to an environment with "cleaner air." So in 1864 Reid moved 100 miles north to the village of Catskill". That puts Jan 5 1856 close to her birth date - maybe they're wrong about how old she was in this quote?
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1101 Posts
 Posted 02/18/2021  10:35 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Phil310 to your friends list
Wonderful information Exoguy!! Your research over several threads I've read has caused me to really appreciate counterstamped coins instead of just looking at them as "damaged". Thanks!!
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20753 Posts
 Posted 02/19/2021  10:52 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add just carl to your friends list
I just love those guns.
Pillar of the Community
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4421 Posts
 Posted 02/19/2021  11:51 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add ExoGuy to your friends list
@ TNG .... Thanks for the acknowledgement. That said, I have been known to be wrong on occasion!

@ kbbpll .... As regards confusion, been there, done that. Thanks for sharing that info on Reid's daughter, Annie. I was wondering why, following his success in NY City, Reid moved his enterprise to the boondocks, Catskill. Much appreciated, this.

@ Phil310 .... I've long seen counterstamps treated as the "Rodney Dangerfield" of the Coin World. They get little respect as so many collectors can't see beyond the damage. In the big picture, that's a plus for collectors like me who look at them differently, beyond the damage, and seek to solve the mystery they convey. One man's trash can surely be another's treasure, eh what? In the long run, I'm happy to see coin collectors, like yourself, learning to appreciate the historical significance that the counterstamped coins convey.

@ justcarl .... I like the guns, too.
New Member
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22 Posts
 Posted 02/19/2021  9:18 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Colmoultrie to your friends list
Wow! That is really neat! To think of all the things I missed as I acquired a few western revolvers..... Sigh. I'm sure I would have just spent even more money even sooner.

As a newbie to coin collecting, this aspect of the hobby is new to me. Have you ever run across a counterstamp related to Merwin, Hulbert & Co. or Hopkins & Allen?
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4421 Posts
 Posted 02/20/2021  10:45 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add ExoGuy to your friends list
to the CCF ColMoultrie


Quote:
Have you ever run across a counterstamp related to Merwin, Hulbert & Co. or Hopkins & Allen?


I've not seen the marks of those gunsmiths. I checked Brunk (2003), and he didn't list them. It's certainly possible that one could surface in time. My guess is that there are far more counterstamps that have yet to be listed than were listed back then. I've found many hundreds of unlisted pieces over the years; this, as have other collectors with whom I've had contact.

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United States
34428 Posts
 Posted 02/20/2021  11:10 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Spence to your friends list

Quote:
Tuesdays were typically the day of the week that patents were formally issued, I believe.


Can confirm that this is true currently. Thx for posting these @exo!
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb

"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
Valued Member
United States
271 Posts
 Posted 02/20/2021  2:03 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Diy89Nurm7 to your friends list
I agree Phil310. I would be tempted to discount the counterstamp as a "fool's errand," too.

ExoGuy, is there a single source of information about these coins or did you have to look in many places?

Stay well,
Diy89Nurm7
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United States
4421 Posts
 Posted 02/20/2021  3:35 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add ExoGuy to your friends list

Quote:
ExoGuy, is there a single source of information about these coins or did you have to look in many places?


A single specimen of the J.REID c/s was listed by Brunk on an 1827 5 franc coin. Likely, Reid chose this coin because it was his birth year. Brunk did not attribute it to James Reid. I did. The MY FRIEND c/s was unlisted. It's a discovery piece that I was also able to attribute.

So, yes, I did have to look in different places; then, piece the facts together. I've long enjoyed this aspect of the hobby, making one slam-dunk attribution after another.

I had been a contributor to Brunk's and Rulau's works since the 1980's. Russ Rulau died some years ago, and Greg Brunk passed away last October. I long admired their work. I much miss my phone chats with Greg. He and I carried on a longtime, albeit long-distance, friendship.

Just today, I received a previously unlisted silversmith c/s in the mail, courtesy of ebay. This discovery c/s is yet another slam-dunk attribution. Given the interest in Reid's c/s's, I'll do a new thread on this one in a few days.

My hope is to encourage other collectors to travel the counterstamp pathway in numismatics. There await literally thousands of maverick c/s's to attribute. I likely don't have enough time to get to them all!
Edited by ExoGuy
02/20/2021 3:43 pm
Valued Member
Canada
363 Posts
 Posted 02/20/2021  4:34 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add ironhorse to your friends list
every time I look at a new c/s (new to my eyes) I often say to myself.."that ones got a story"...I find it amazing that you are the story teller for these coins we love
I always learn something from your posts
Pillar of the Community
United States
4421 Posts
 Posted 02/20/2021  5:06 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add ExoGuy to your friends list
@ironhorse .... Happy to pique your interest, I am.

BTW, there are a great many Canadian c/s's, what with DEVINS & BOLTON, Montreal Druggists, being the most prolific in your country. Many Canadian c/s's appear on U.S. coins, and many U.S. c/s's appear on Canadian coins. My guess is that the "punchers" figured, "Why damage my country's coinage when I can damage the other guy's?"
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