Origin Of Inverted Shield Stamped On Shield Nickel

Never seen anything like it. Almost looks like something that would be found as part of the design on a hard times or Civil War token.

The five divots at the top of the shield, along with the six depressed vertical bars in the shield equals 11. There were 11 States that comprised the Confederacy.

I'm gonna guess that the coin was stamped by a disgruntled Southern sympathizer since the counter stamp is upside down as a sign of distress. There has got to be other coins out there that he may have done, too.

Somebody has had to have seen something like this in the past 150 years.

That's my guess and I'm gonna stick with it ..... (Until I can come up with something better!)

Sounds reasonable enough.

I've not seen this shield before. Brunk and Rulau each listed another shield with the numeral "16" on it. My guess is that these stamps may have been used to make buttons. Westernsky's thought about these being related to the fallen Confederacy is certainly plausible. This shield stamp being carefully placed and inverted, atop the federal shield suggests that a political statement was being made. However, the use of shields on buttons was commonplace back then; especially so, those made for use by fraternal organizations, marching bands, etc. Nickel, being such a hard substance, would be a good way to test the strength of this punch.

While I see maverick pieces like this, being of modest value, the thoughts expressed in this thread well illustrate the "curiosity value" that counterstamped coins possess.