Interesting Token - Counterstamp

Now that is cool!

These will typically fetch in the $250 range at present. Here's a pic of one in my collection:



Brunk lists this issue as # K-346. As of 2003, Brunk had recorded 51 pieces. That number could be doubled by now. I have two pieces in my collection. They are very popular, given the minstrel show connection. It's likely that two reales, being two bits or 25 cents, was the price of admission. I expect that these counterstamped pieces may have been given out in change, to encourage word-of-mouth advertising and possibly to provide a keepsake.

Here are my notes (copied in CAPS from my database):

BRUNK REPORTS THAT GEORGE KUNKEL WAS BORN IN GREENCASTLE, PA IN 1821, MANAGING THEATRES IN RICHMOND AND WASHINGTON INTO THE 1850's. JOHN WILKES BOOTH AND JENNY LIND WERE AMONG HIS COMPANY. KUNKEL WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL AS A BLACK-FACE PERFORMER, PLAYING UNCLE TOM. IN 1855, HE MOVED TO BALTIMORE, THEREIN MANAGING TWO THEATRES. KUNKEL SPECIALIZED IN MINSTREL SHOWS, AND HE DIED IN 1885 AT AGE 63. THE 1864 BALTIMORE DIRECTORY LISTS GEORGE AS THE LESSEE OF THE FRONT ST. THEATRE.

Great find !

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the info!