1860 Indian Cent, Pointed Bust, With A Counterstamp & A Question .

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Author	Replies: 10 / Views: 867
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4415 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 5:04 pm I just purchased the below pictured coin because I was able to attribute the counterstamp. The tiny stamp, both obverse and reverse, reads: Wm.D. BRIGGS. This stamp matches that seen on the underside of his silver spoons. He also referred to himself as "Wm. D. Briggs" in an 1857 NY City advertisement. The seller described this pointed bust variety as "rare." Having seen a number of these pointed bust pieces over the years, my guess is it's a moderately scarce variety .... or, am I missing something here? Report this Post to the Staff

pristine2 Pillar of the Community United States 1048 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 5:50 pm Cool! Even in the 1860s it must have cost at least a good portion of a penny to counterstamp it. I really wonder what purpose it served. Report this Post to the Staff
kbbpll Pillar of the Community United States 4233 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 5:58 pm Moderately scarce I guess. https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin...ed-bust/2056 one guy says 6 times rarer than the rounded bust, the other guy says 5% of the mintage. 5% of 20 million is still a lot of coins... Cool counterstamp, both sides too! Report this Post to the Staff
Coinfrog Bedrock of the Community United States 94367 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 7:34 pm Interesting, thanks for sharing! Report this Post to the Staff
paralyse Bedrock of the Community United States 12057 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 7:36 pm The pointed bust is scarcer than the rounded bust, but like kbbpll notes, it's scarce only in relation to its counterpart, not scarce in terms of numbers. Any counterstamp you can identify is definitely a winner, as you're very well aware! Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis Report this Post to the Staff
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4415 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 7:55 pm Quote: Even in the 1860s it must have cost at least a good portion of a penny to counterstamp it. I really wonder what purpose it served. The stamps were commonly made by masons to label their products, silverware, scientific instruments, scalpels, watches, guns, locks, you name it .... Sometimes the product maker created the stamp, and other times, a brother mason would fashion the stamp, a skilled die-cutter. The maker of this TINY stamp in the 1850's was assuredly most skilled. There are dozens of reasons that coins were stamped. First and foremost, coins were a handy piece of metal to simply test a stamp. Those who stamped coins often carried one or more of them as a calling card of sorts; these, being forerunners of Masonic Chapter pennies, I suspect. The stamping of coins in the 1850's was a tremendous fad. Many of these "little billboards" (Greg Brunk's term) served as a medium of advertising. Others were stamped as checks or IOU's, in effect. The stamped coins were often used as conversation starters. The list goes on .... Some issuers, typically merchants, stamped dozens, if not hundreds of coins. Since this Briggs coin is possibly the only one known and lacks a location, its purpose was other-than-advertising. Report this Post to the Staff
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4415 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 7:58 pm Thanks, kbbpll & paralyse, for confirming my suspicion. The term "rare" has to be one of the most excecessively used adjectives in numismatics! Report this Post to the Staff
HondoB Bedrock of the Community United States 25008 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 8:15 pm Great acquisition, ExoGuy! Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures Edited by HondoB 09/23/2023 8:15 pm Report this Post to the Staff
smat45 Pillar of the Community United States 2333 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 9:03 pm My old lady scofts at at me when I say say...the more I read...the more I learn... She's not getting any either! LOL nice read... smat Report this Post to the Staff
Errers and Varietys Bedrock of the Community United States 73798 Posts	Posted 09/23/2023 11:28 pm Very cool! Errers and Varietys. Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187832 Posts	Posted 09/25/2023 11:36 am Very interesting! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
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