Counterstamp, J.H. Loveless

Dave Bowers was one of the early cataloguers of counterstamps and over the years amassed a huge collection of them Owle. When Greg Brunk decided to write a book in the early 1980s he spent a week or so with Bowers in New Hampshire picking his brain as well as studying and recording his collection. Dr. Brunk also had a substantial collection which he auctioned off through Rich Hartzog a number of years ago. Dave is now in the process of selling at least some of his collection. I'm privileged to have a number of his counterstamps as well as Greg Brunk's in my collection.

The "L" and "E" counterstamped coins are a mystery for sure and probably because of that reason are fairly valuable. Normally, such pieces would not command high prices but because of the speculation of people such as Dave Bowers and Greg Brunk their popularity increases. They're not common but one appears on eBay or another auction periodically.

Bruce

 

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Thanks Amanda. After my earlier post I went back to work. The Allegan Historical Society had an e-mail address, but believe it or not, is closed until April...too cold I guess. I never ran into that problem before.

The County historical site is pretty comprehensive and had some directories for Allegan and surrounding counties dating from the 1870s and 80s. I was on their site for at least 2 hours and found absolutely nothing. Loveless is a tough one for sure but that makes it even more fun to look for him. I'll keep trying...but not tonight. Good Luck!

Bruce

 

Thanks for checking in Morgandude. Generally when you're trying to attribute a counterstamp you can almost always discount a woman issuer. Counterstamps by females are extremely rare although there are a small number known. Their personal "pocket pieces" if you will are more likely to be engraved love tokens attached to some type of jewelry. Another characteristic would be the use of a full first name. In was very common in those days for men to use initials in place of their first and middle names, but almost never women. Women's stamps also tend to be a bit more refined. Loveless' is hand-struck with individual punches and fairly crude.

Having said all that, you're probably right...it will turn out to be a woman's counterstamp.

Bruce

 

Thanks for filling in the blanks on that Bruce. Interesting to hear that QD Bowers is liquidating at this particular point in time. I bought and sold two "L" counterstamped quarters that came out of NH last year.

 

I don't know if Dave is selling his entire collection or just parts of it Owle. About a year ago he issued a fixed price list for the counterstamp portion of the collection he had purchased from the estate of the late Steve Tannenbaum. He noted that at a later time he would be offering some from his own collection, but I haven't heard anything further about that.

Bruce

 

Here's my contribution (second link when searching the name and Michigan):

http://books.google.com/books?id=wk...AQ#v=onepage&q=J.H. Loveless michigan&f=false

I guess now you know the man wanted a ditch

 

Digging a little deeper...did a search for "Loveless" "Allegan" and the good news it appears J.H. likely has some ancestors alive and in Allegan....

On the other hand not sure how useful this fellow would be to you if you contacted him...

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2013/05/missing_allegan_county_man_fou.html

 

And a little more...

http://genforum.genealogy.com/loveless/messages/510.html

Although not sure at all if this one is the same guy.

 

real nice

 

I hope not, they would be really really old by now. Now descendants on the other hand is a good possibility.

 

Maybe the counterstamp is a source of eternal youth!

 

I knew something was wrong when I typed that

 

Thanks for the leads Lord Geoff. I did a lot of work on this stamp today and think I've tracked him down. I have to check out a few more things tomorrow to be sure, but your post about the Gaines Twp., Kent County freeholders J.H. and Sylvester Loveless helped and the earlier post by superc in regard to a John H. Loveless he found on Ancestry.com. turned out to be "our man" His connection to the railroad is sketchy and it's going to take a bit more work to find it. Thanks for the good leads guys. I'll post some more tomorrow.

Bruce

 

Dang Bruce, great work!

 

Thanks Jwt, but this was a CT project. A lot of good help and tips from all you who have been posting on this thread. Thanks!

Bruce

 

Oh my god, I can't believe I missed the developments! I was traveling yesterday to the San Jose coin show where I'm sitting as we speak -- but I'm floored! I never thought anyone would actually be able to track the man down!! I can't wait to hear more!!


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Although I didn't find anything linking John H. Loveless directly to the L.S.& M.S. Ry. (except the counterstamp of course) there's a pretty convincing amount of circumstantial evidence that tells us he's the issuer. This scenario is very common in these types of investigations. It's fairly uncommon to find evidence that tells you for sure you've found the right issuer. Having said that, I'm very comfortable that this man is the correct one.

John H. Loveless was born in Lysander, Onondaga Co., NY in November, 1838. His father was a farmer named Erastus (born 1800) and his mother was Eliza E. Pulsfer (born 1801). John had 3 sisters named Clara, Melissa, and Maria and a brother Sylvester A. By 1855 the family had moved to Ira, Cayuga Co., NY where John was listed as a farmer in that year's New York State census. John was married on July 4, 1858 to Hannah Maria (Mariah) Mead in Kent County, MI

The 1860 Federal Census listed his father, mother and sister Maria living in Gaines Twp., Kent Co., MI and he and a female named Mercy in Monterey, Allegan Co., MI. John had no children at the time. I don't know who Mercy was since his wife's name was Hannah, but the couple's ages match other records and John is listed as a farmer as in past listings. It may have been her nickname or just a transcription error which was very common in those days. In June, 1863 John registered for the military draft and was still living in Monterey. As far as I could tell he never served.

I found nothing else until 1872 when the family lived in Manlius, Allegan Co. The couple's two children were born there. Fred Sylvester in December, 1872 and a daughter Daisy in 1878. No occupation was given for John.

To make this a bit shorter I'll summarize.
1880- U.S. Federal Census / Mayfield, Grand Traverse Co., MI Occupation: Farmer

1882- He was listed as a Freeholder with his brother Sylvester in Gaines Township, Kent Co. No other details.

1896 / 1906 - Appeared in Grand Rapids, Kent Co. city directories. Apparently, he still lived in Gaines Twp. in the city of Dutton, a suburb of Grand Rapids.
1896 - No occupation
1898 / 1899- Occupation - "Trucker RR - D.G.R.& W.RR" (Detroit, Grand Rapids & Western Railroad) A trucker would be more commonly known as a drayman or teamster in those days. Someone who picked up and delivered freight by wagon.
1900 - "Laborer"
1900 U.S. Federal Census - "Trucker RR"
1901 / 1906 - Listed as a "Flagman" 1904, 1906 and a "Flagman, P.M. RR" in 1905. "P.M. RR" stands for the Pere Marquette Railroad.

Unfortunately, between 1863 and 1880 and 1880 and 1896 John Loveless was pretty invisible in historical documents. What really caught my attention was his employment in Grand Rapids with two different railroads as a flagman and trucker. There was a depot in Grand Rapids for the L.S.& M.S. Railway starting in 1869 but evidently he didn't work for them during his years in the city. I believe Loveless may have hauled freight for the railroad out of the Allegan depot as a means of supplementing his farming income c. 1870s. It's possible that Amanda's coin was used to identify himself when he picked up freight at the depot. The hole in the coin shows signs of heavy wear, so it was definitely worn for a long period of time.

One last thing. Although there's no definitive evidence showing that this man is the J.H. Loveless who counterstamped the coin, I didn't come across anyone else who could have even remotely been the issuer. I feel confident that this is our man. Thanks again for everyones help. I had a lot fun doing this.

Bruce

 

I came in on this thread too late, it seems, but I must say, WOW! This is quite a testament to how members of Coin Talk can track down information for those who need help with identifying a coin, its origins, or, in this case, the origin of a counterstamp. I applaud everyone who was involved with this research!

 

UNBELIEVABLE!! I simply can't believe that you've found the owner!! I'm still at the show so it's hard to do a lot of talking right now ... but I am just ... well, I can't believe it!!


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Wow--great thread! I'm sure anyone with an 1803 Large Cent has wondered--Who handled this coin? Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin or maybe even John Hodgman? To associate a man's name and his life to a coin is just awesome. Kudos to BRandM, Amanda, and all the others for making this happen.


J.H. Loveless LIVES!!!