An Interesting Counterstamped Trade Dollar: 'R. ONDERDONK LEMON SQUEEZER N.Y.'
ChopmarkedTrades
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This interesting piece ended up selling for a strong $737 late last month. An unusual counterstamp for a Trade Dollar, a series whose short date run and large proportion of exported pieces meant that their use in domestic commerce was rather spotty, which was only complicated by its pseudo-legal tender status in the States throughout its life.
Unlike Seated Liberty Halves and domestically circulating Spanish colonial pieces, counterstamped Trade Dollars with clearly evident merchant professions (as opposed to just a simple name) are very scarce; the 'Sage's Candy Coin' counterstamps are one of the exceptions.
The Onderdonk Lemon Squeezer counterstamp is apparently seldom encountered itself, but was known to Brunk (#O-89), and research has been compiled previously on Onderdonk and his invention. A fascinating piece that combines a short-lived and occasionally maligned denomination with a distinctive counterstamp that is emblematic of the entrepreneurial spirit and inventiveness of the Industrial Age.
Comments
I love it!
I love squeezers like that!
"R. ONDERDONK" Great name and a nice looking counterstamp
Cool, I like it !!!
Great counterstamp there!
Anyone else have Led Zeppelin's "Lemon Song" stuck in their head right now?
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Yep ... "Have your lemons squeezed by R. Onderdonk" brings to mind so many inappropriate jokes.
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
Onderdonk
Dutch: topographic name from onder ‘below’, ‘under’ + donk ‘small hill
Lemon squeezer extraordinaire...
That is an interesting counterstamp, and since cataloged, not unique. I wonder if it is also on Morgans... I would assume it would be. Cheers, RickO
Now that's a name that kids when I was young would absolutely ridicule!
There are tons of coins that I find interesting that don't fit into any of my current collections. For the safety of my wallet, unless they're cheap, I have to admire them from afar.
Awesome. I'm wondering if that punch was used on the lemon squeezers themselves.
Let's find one issued by Led Zeppelin
An early "ED" treatment.... ?
Zeppelin...
POST NUBILA PHOEBUS / AFTER CLOUDS, SUN
Love for Music / Collector of Dreck
very cool - and nice tie-in research! that is a surprising result
Minor Variety Trade dollar's with chop marks set:
More Than It's Chopped Up To Be
Nope. Like I said, it is a really cool piece, but it doesn't fit into any of my present collections and ended up being a bit too pricey to justify for a pickup that wouldn't be destined for one of my sets. I'm sure whoever did buy it is very happy to have a cool, probably unique, piece of history.