Canada 1904 10 cents counterstamped TBS?

PillarDollarCollector

Does anyone here know what TBS stands for exactly? Purchased this coin in my early teens forgot I had it.

It is: T.B.S

PillarDollarCollector

Will take a picture and post it.

TomB

Images would be great.

PillarDollarCollector

@TomB said:
Images would be great.

Will add one Saturday my camera is not working so I have to get out and go and buy myself a new one.

Sapyx

Counterstamps are very difficult to determine the origin and meaning of, once they are removed from the local context where they were made. Those three letters could literally be anything: somebody's initials, the initials of a business or club, or some religious, political or philosophical slogan.

Defacing coinage has always been illegal in Canada, so if it was done in Canada, it's doubtful that whoever did it went around boasting about it, which means finding documentary evidence about it will be impossible. If it was done outside of Canada, that simply makes the job of trying to determine its origin even more difficult, since literally anybody on the planet could've done it.

PillarDollarCollector

Trying to find if adds any value.

Sapyx

Countermarks that are universally agreed to add value are usually either government-applied, or when the applier is both well known and somewhat notorious. Otherwise, you might find a niche collector that appreciates and values countermarks and who is prepared to pay above market value for such a piece, but to most collectors, a countermarked coin is a damaged coin - it subtracts value, rather than adds to it.

A somewhat extreme example of this value subtraction, recently brought to my attention by another CU forum member: the Australian Holey Dollar of 1813. A Nobles auction ten years ago had two of them for sale, in similar condition but one of them was countermarked and one was not. The unmarked coin was estimated at $55,000. The countermarked coin estimated at $25,000. So that countermark basically costs negative $25,000. And we think we know who the countermarker is in this instance.

syl

Sapyx ..... are you saying (chuckle chuckle) that the Vatican or the Pope countermarked the Holey dollar?