Thread: restruck indian head cent

got this in a mixed lot off ebay,

appears to be an indian head cent that has been restruck into some sort of challenge coin or medallion.

the text inside the shield has some greek and some latin lettes making it really hard to decipher the message.

some have said that it may be related to a fraternity, others suggest the 7 stars represent the 7 original confederate states.

overall i can't get any google hits after typing in dozens and dozens of descriptions etc.

any thoughts? (thank you in advance)

Wade

That is pretty cool. As to what it is, I have no idea.

​Interesting.

That's interesting Wade. I've been collecting counterstamps for years and haven't seen anything like that before. I have seen the raised style but not that particular symbol or whatever it represents. You got me curious so I'll check into it and see if I can find out anything for you.

Bruce

Impressed on the reverse is "DYER IND'PLS". There is a town in Indiana named Dyer. Not too near Indianapolis, though. There are currently a number of jewelers named Dyer in Indianapolis.

Very interesting !!!

rickmp

thanks,

someone from another forum suggested the jeweler connection,

i've emailed pictures to C. B. Dyer & Ratliff Co (they've been around since 1890 and do work for fraternities)

will post results

here is the reply i got back from DYER and RATLIFF

Originally Posted by wade12

Wade , My name is Rick Ratliff and worked for the company for 32 years
. The company closed in 09 due to economic struggles . The looks
familiar but we did alot of those types and it appears to be some type
of Fraternity coat of arms . The company was founded in 1890 and the
bulk of their business for a long time was Fraternity and Sorority
jewelry . Sorry I cant be of more help . Rick

so, looks like a frat badge of some sort, but.... WHICH frat?

The only letters I can make out are Phi, possibly Xi and Epsilon. (in the middle of all of the letters)

Originally Posted by wade12

here is the reply i got back from DYER and RATLIFF



so, looks like a frat badge of some sort, but.... WHICH frat?

The O with the line through it is phi, and the E is sigma. The character between them looks like a small t, which is tau.

Together, you have Phi Tau Sigma, and I found this with a google search:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Tau_Sigma

Originally Posted by BUncirculated

The O with the line through it is phi, and the E is sigma. The character between them looks like a small t, which is tau.

Together, you have Phi Tau Sigma, and I found this with a google search:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Tau_Sigma

That one hasn't been around long enough, really.

OP, that's an interesting piece. I'm interested to see the origin, if it's discovered.

the 'center' letter could also be zeta or xi,

but we can't assume its all greek, the starting letter G doesnt exist in greek!

G is common in masonic symbols as God and/or Geometry, and fits with the skull/bones. but ???

Originally Posted by BUncirculated

The O with the line through it is phi, and the E is sigma. The character between them looks like a small t, which is tau.

Together, you have Phi Tau Sigma, and I found this with a google search:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Tau_Sigma

You are better than I. I misread the sigma and couldn't get the tau.

Together, you have Phi Tau Sigma, and I found this with a google search:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Tau_Sigma

A rather aggressive motif for a food science fraternity, skulls and all.

Originally Posted by desertgem

A rather aggressive motif for a food science fraternity, skulls and all.

I'm only going by the 3 Greek letters I can see and identify. Whether it's related to the link I posted or not, is another story. It's what came up in the google search