Small Motto 1864 Two Cent Counterstamp

Having spotted the subject coin on ebay, I researched it a bit and came up empty. I do think it offers fair potential for attribution though. I have seen but a few c/s's on 1864 SM coins. Indeed, this was the toughest one for me to find to complete a date set of c/s's. The excessive environmental damage is what made me pass on it; this, given I already found a respectable specimen.




I've pondered this question, myself, John1. The problem is, as I see it, there are so many categories of c/s's that adopting this approach would muddy the waters, so to speak. Consider that c/s's straddle the line between coins and exonumia. Then too, there's such a wide range of them, spanning from ancient coins to modern novelty c/s's. I'm thus inclined to see the c/s's being best relegated within the years the host coins were issued.

This is one of many questions that typically arise about the who, what, when, where and WHY of any given c/s appearing on a coin. I once compiled a list of WHY's, pertaining to the motivation behind the practice of counterstamping.

A few of the more common reasons for this 1800's American fad were as follows:

1) to advertise a business via word-of-mouth, circulating coins.
2) to create a personalized pocket piece (often for masonic or fraternal reasons)
3) to test a punch (e.g.- patentees, machinists)
4) to create token remembrances for family/friends
5) to serve as checks or counters for a business
6) for use as a security device to thwart theft

By identifying the issuer and number of known coins bearing a given c/s, the WHY question can be better adjudged.

Regarding the issue of modern, 21st century c/s's, the WHY boils down to making money by creating novelty items. An example is the stamping of a state logo on a cent and peddling same for a 200-300 % profit.

I believe that these are Parmelee's initials. To my experience, it wasn't uncommon for an issuer to have separate name and initials. When I researched this piece, I tried using "Charles F. Parmelee" for example, along with other name combinations; this, but to no avail. Had the condition of this piece been better, I'd have tried harder.

Yes, political c/s's are yet another category on my list. The most familiar c/s in this category is VOTE THE LAND FREE.

"Dog tags" were, during the Civil War, called "identification disks." There are some known ones, but they're exceedingly rare. The published book on this genre mentions them but doesn't picture one on a coin, only many on die struck medals. I have but one example on a coin in my collection. The reason these c/s's are so rare is that sutlers and diesinkers stamped them on previously struck medals, typically portraying, McClellan, Lincoln and contemporary Union/military dies. It seems that most soldiers of the day had their names labeled on their clothing; this, being a more practical means of identification.

As for the Lincolns bearing a Kennedy portrait, I believe the stamp was created long after Kennedy's demise. Thus, the stamp wasn't intended to be of political nature. These Kennedy-stamped Lincolns were/are a novelty item, being simply issued for profit. I've seen them attached to promotional cards that list similarities between the subjects, Lincoln and Kennedy.

@ apco1258 .... This MAY be the stamp of relative. Frank/Franklin MAY be the issuer's middle name. It's a lead but a far cry from making a positive, slam-dunk attribution. My personal favorite c/s attributions took me ten years or so to make a POSITIVE attribution. I had a PROBABLE issuer in mind, but it took me that long to find a matching stamp on one of the issuer's products! That was really a joyous, AH-HA moment for me.