1825 Half Cent - Derogatory word or something else???

That the engraving/countermark (if it is a c/m) is on the obverse is the most unusual thing about this piece. I have seen several specimens on which the word "CENT" is sculpted into that other word. Frankly, although I'm not going to argue with the OED or whatever source you're citing, I suspect the use (as opposed to the appearance in print) of "the C word" goes back way farther than the 13th century. I have seen it rendered in Latin as "C*nnus" and ascribed to times earlier than the 1st or 2nd century BC. If, like many Latin terms, its root is from a Greek term, it would be even older than that. It was considered a mild insult when used to describe a man. Not sure what, if anything, it may have signified to the women of the age.
Originally, it was merely a descriptive word to name a part of the body - like arm or knee or nose - and carried no negative connotation until one of the more relatively recent periods of pseudo-puritanism (probably 18th or 19th century?) in which all sorts of normal words and actions are demonized for the sake of "religion" - or just to make people with nothing better to do or worry about feel as though their prejudices are justified and correct to push onto others; and so they may feel they are entitled to look down upon others for their continued use.

 

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Heyyy, I wrote a song called that. Here's the band "The Victims of Kool" performing my song.
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Very interesting...I'm going to take the coin to a local shop and ask them for their opinion before relating CT opinions of the coin...that way, their observation will be unjaded. Thanks for your input!

 

That's some mighty fine guitar playin' Hookman!

 

Do a quick search for brothel token. You'll see there were quite a few tokens made with that word. It wasn't meant to be derogatory. It was describing what the token would buy.

 

Thank you John...I'll go take a look.

 

After looking through the various links/images, I'd have to say I don't think it's a brothel token (although I did learn something!)...I still think it's either a counter stamp or what @Fenian said...hard to tell for sure. I'm going to take it to a coin shop this week and try to get it figured out. I'll be sure to let everyone know and thank you all for your input and knowledge.

 

Yes, it is, but that's not me. The player is Craig Stevenz, the singer is Julie Rutherford, known as Julzz. I only wrote the song.
I think they did a mighty fine job of covering it.

Does that guitar work remind you of anyone? Craig was honored to have two songs (one song is his, the other was a cover from the tribute band) included on a 40th Anniversary Tribute CD to a VERY famous band.

 

He definitely was reminding me of someone but I couldn't qu ZZ

I couldn't hear it very well this morning (had headphones on) but now that I listened to it again, he sounds a lot like both Blackfoot and ZZ Top. Listening to it without headphones made all the difference...I could understand what Craig said before he started singing but still can't quite understand Julie singing the words. My hearing is not very good...obviously! In the beginning of the song, it sounds very much like the beginning of Train Train by Blackfoot.

 

It does look like a counterstamp, but maybe it was a counterstamp used by a brothel that didn't have their own tokens?

 

I suppose it very well could be...thanks again for your input!

 

So tell me...did he cover for ZZ Top??? Cuz if he didn't, he should have!

 

Well, I took the coin to a local coin shop and I must say, I was very disappointed in their observation. First of all, they looked at it with a loupe in the darkness when they had a microscope sitting right there. Secondly, one of the guys didn't even hold it in his hand, he just glanced at it when the other guy said is was from 1825 and then spouted off "It's not worth anything so we wouldn't buy it." I told him I wasn't looking to sell it so don't worry about it. The guy who looked at it said (almost immediately) that it IS the derogatory word and that's when I told him the differing opinions that my friends had to say. He just kept shaking his head saying no, no, no. My friend that went with me asked them how long they'd been doing the whole coin thing and they said 10 years...go figure. However, with all this, he did slightly agree that it could be a brothel token. Now on the way home while I'm driving, my friend (who's much younger than I am) started scrutinizing the coin with my loupe and she said she could see a vine drawn onto the coin and it looked to say the nasty word with "& co." added to it. The extra drawing that looks questionable to me, looked like part of the vine to her. The day I originally posted the start of this thread, my eyesight was not good, even with my new glasses. I have REALLY BAD ALLERGIES and they affect my sight every day...come to find out, I have a serious sinus infection and I was prescribed 875 mg. Augmentin for the next 21 days. I only tell you this because I feel like this matters to my request for more info from you guys, simply because I have issues that really affect my eyesight. I feel absolutely heartbroken that this coin was defaced in this manner - brothel token or not - and I want to thank each and every one of you who weighed in on my coin.

 

Oops...I found a mistake in my post above. The coin shop has been in business 13 years. Apologies y'all...

 

As for the LCS, not a lot of experience and a poor attitude on top of that. The corrosion is what’s adding to the problems in identifying it correctly. It really could be a counter stamp, a brothel token or the “C” word. I gave my opinion but it doesn’t mean I’m correct.

Please hang onto that coin and try another more experienced dealer, maybe at a coin show. A neat and different piece, just hard to properly identify.

 

I would never get rid of the coin, that's for sure.
There's a coin show coming up in the beginning of October (and they're doing free appraisals) and you can bet your bippy that I'll be there...coin in hand!

 

Excellent! Ask a number of different dealers about that coin. Please let me know what is said.

 

I certainly will...

 

Well, I went to a coin show (my first one ever) yesterday and showed one of the guys my coin - the other vendors said to ask this particular fellow - and he had no information for me. What's funny is he went to the internet and cited Coin Talk and my particular thread and that's where he got the info he gave me. I told him that I was the one who posted that thread! So basically, he knew absolutely NOTHING. Not to mention, the prices at the coin show were four to five times what you'd see on the internet or at a coin shop! Holy mackerel!

 

Thanks for the story of your life the past few months and that of your coin. IMO, Your coin is worth more than you paid for it. The fact that the "C" word is engraved into it rather than the alteration to "Cent" PLUS the engraved image of the anatomical part in question - "0" with a slit leaves only meaning of the "30" in question. While your coin can be easily duplicated, the fact that it is contemporary raises its value. I'd put it into an auction that allowed such artifacts. They could do a long description about an "Old West" token to raise interest.