Gold Rush / Territorial Counterstamps
Zoins
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What are the most famous Gold Rush / Territorial counterstamps?
I've always liked the J.L. (John Lozier) Polhemus counterstamp due to the design which includes a beaker, letters with a curved design and the location in California. There's a nice biography on his FindAGrave profile:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64924219/john-l.-polhemus
Today, I ran across this 1857-S double eagle which not only has the great counterstamp but has a great denomination as well. How many Polhemus gold coins are known?
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I cannot answer your question, however, that is a special gold coin...Definitely either spent time as a pocket piece or has seen considerable commerce....Certainly a unique stamp... It looks as if it was one full stamp and not done piecemeal ...Cheers, RickO
Very interesting reads. That druggist had a very interesting life. So very different from today. I hope one day to stumble on one of his counter stamp silver coin. I will have to look him up in my counter stamp book. I am sure he is listed. Thank you for the post.
Agree his life was very interesting. It's great to read about how lives were led back then.
This one is listed as Brunk P-563. Both PCGS and ATS slab Brunk listed counterstamps. A number of Brunk listed pieces slabbed by PCGS have been posted in this thread:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/994726/what-is-the-lowest-pcgs-graded-top-pop-1-0-coin/#latest
Very neat coin. How much does a counterstamp such as this enhance or diminish the value of the host coin?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
+1
I've seen one or two otherwise common silver coins with this counterstamp sell on ebay and it definitely increased the value by a couple or a few hundred dollars. Not sure of the premium on gold.
I imagine the premium drops as the value of the host coin increases.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Probably but I would pay a premium for the gold counterstamp
That's a neat Polhemus - they're a lot more common on silver minors - I have a 55-S quarter somewhere. W.W. Light - the assayer who worked for J.S. Ormsby also counterstamped coins when he was a dentist in Sacramento. They're a bit harder to locate than Polhemus, but I've seen more on gold, proportionately speaking.
There is also a unique large cent counterstamp from San Francisco photographer Silas Selleck. It was made using the stamp that he used on the metal frames for his dagguerotypes, IIRC.
What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
One thing I like about this piece is that I feel the counterstamp is placed nicely and fits in its location. The silver minors I've seen don't tend to have as nice of a placement.
Here's a H.H. PIERSON / W.W. Light that I just ran across. Of note is that there are W.W. LIGHT DENTIST counterstamps, without H.H. PIERSON.
I love the die crack and the original toning on that coin. A real piece of gold rush history. That counterstamp is the icing on the cake.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Great piece! Thanks for posting the pictures!
Here's my W.W. Light (without Pierson):
What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
Cool!
Nice counterstamp!
Wonder if that was supposed to be a mortar and pestle rather than a beaker??
John L. “J.L.” Polhemus
Birth
15 Nov 1825
Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA
Death
17 Dec 1866 (aged 41)
Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, USA
Burial
Sacramento City Cemetery
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Yes, of course.
Nice one.
Looks like it could be the same counterstamp - just with the top name ground off the punch.
I've always suspected that Pierson was punched using a separate punch, since the words are a bit deeper into the die, and aren't precisely oriented the same way. If we had two Piersons to compare, we'd be able to tell, but I haven't got a photo of another one.
What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
That's my speculation as well, especially since the Light words are similar on others.
Very cool Counter stamps. I would love to find one of with the dentist
thanks for posting
The non-shipwreck Polhemus double eagle ended up selling for $52,800. I updated the image in the first post to include this information.
Here's some additional information on this coin:
Old Thread Update
Just ran across this W.W. Light on a Wass Molitor half eagle from the SS Central America:
https://coinweek.com/us-coins/us-gold-coins/unprecedented-grouping-of-rare-territorial-gold-coins-aboard-ss-central-america-treasure/
Very cool stuff
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/publishedset/209923
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/quarters/washington-quarters-major-sets/washington-quarters-date-set-circulation-strikes-1932-present/album/209923