A Counterstamped 1820 CBQ That Tells US Where It's Been ....

Here's an 1820 Bust Quarter with some history attached to it. First, the coin ....




My database notes (pardon the caps) ....

BRUNK, WHO WROTE THE BOOK ON AMERICAN MERCHANT COUNTERSTAMPS, REPORTS THAT GEORGE KUNKEL WAS BORN IN GREENCASTLE, PA IN 1821. HE MANAGED THEATERS 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 THEATERS. KUNKEL SPECIALIZED IN MINSTREL SHOWS. HE DIED IN 1885, THEN AGE 62.

Kunkel's counterstamps are typically seen on Spanish two real coins like those pictured below ....





Brunk lists this issue as # K-346 (3 line stamp) and @ K-347 (2 line stamp). As of 2003, Brunk had recorded 51 pieces. The existing number is likely double that. I have two other pieces in my collection. Given the minstrel show connection. this issue is popular among collectors. 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. The coinage act of 1857 virtually ended the circulation of Spanish and other world coins in the U.S.





GEORGE KUNKEL PORTRAIT