1975 stamped penny

pennyquestion101

I would like to know the origin and value of this 1975 penny. Was some stamping professional just bored? View the image at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncbladen/penny.jpg

bohica268

SpiritOf76

coppercoins

That's one of a number of different "counterstamps" place on cents during the bicentennial period and sold in stores, given away as promotionals, and handed out at shows and clubs. They typically run 50 cents to two or three bucks depending on the particular design and the buyer's interest. There is no real "catalog" for their value. I have some 75-100 counterstamps on Lincolns in the back of my Lincoln cent collection sort of as a "footnote" along with elongated (rolled) Lincolns and encased Lincolns....the three major areas that I have conveniently called "after production collectibles".

Counterstamps have been around for over 150 years and have served many purposes. They have been used as coupons of sorts from stores - a merchant would counterstamp coins with initials or words and give them out in change. When they were spent in the store, their face value was increased somewhat. Other counterstamps have been manufactured as giveaways for clubs, orders (masonic), political candidates, shriners, you name it. One of the most prolific counterstamps over time has been the "Lincoln facing Kennedy" counterstamp which was generally attached to a card that explained all the coincidental similarities between the two presidents. The card generally had a space at the bottom where the purchasing firm (usually attorneys, banks, and other financial institutions) could overprint their business information and give them out as "store cards".

There's an entire world of collecting just inside counterstamps...either you love'em and wnat more, or you think they are worthless damaged coins. Either way, they're around in numbers!

As for your particular counterstamp, I have never seen it before. The 1975 and 1976 cents I have with the bicentennial theme include stars, various US flags, the Liberty bell, and the date "1776" counterstamped above the 1976 date on the coin. I would be interested in acquiring your piece for my collection.