Two of these counterstamps I picked up on e-bay but the most important, the "Rudolph" stamp, was bought from a token dealer from Douglasville, PA. He had a table at a small local show in Burlington that I attended last Sunday. The "G.B. Fogg" token is unlisted but was attributed by the seller when I bought it. I decided to research it and flesh out the details a bit. Gilman Bradbury Fogg is a pretty fancy name for a Manchester, NH gunsmith, but apparently he produced quality firearms from 1845 to 1879. It seems that he mostly manufactured target rifles, fowling pieces, and underhammer percussion pistols. There are some examples of his firearms on the internet, and they're stamped just like the counterstamp on the 1827 Large Cent. The trade card isn't mine, I came across it during my research. The card dates to about 1870. "A.B. Cole / 62" is by an unknown issuer, but Brunk does list it. There are four varieties, "A.B. Cole", "A.B. Cole / 1853", "A.B. Cole / 1855", and "A.B. Cole / 1859". My piece with the numeral 62 would be a fifth variety. Mine is the sixth documented example. Dates that appear as part of a counterstamp are often model years or delivery dates for some product, so Cole may be a gunsmith, a lock maker or some similar trade. One example appears on the Hard Times Token of a Milwaukee merchant so Cole may be from there. I haven't had any luck finding him yet. The most interesting and historically important is the "Rudolph" counterstamp however. J.F. Rudolph was a Philadelphia druggist in the mid 1840's until about 1855. In that year he moved to Nevada City, CA and set up a business at 21 Commercial St. By 1885 he'd moved on to Sacramento where he ran a pharmacy at 823 K St. We know today that he was the maker of these pieces because he mentioned how he counterstamped coins with just his last name in an 1856 advertisement for his business. The coin is a Half Dime, the first example on such a small coin. All the others are either on S/L dimes or quarters. Even though this one has seen better days, the stamp is one of those rare Californis Gold Rush issues which you don't see too much. Imagine my surprise when I saw one at a small show right in my backyard. As always, thanks for looking. Bruce
Love the new CS's Bruce. It seems like I have seen that Rudolph stamp somewhere in my travels/searches, but I can't recall where. You really need to drum up one of those business cards to compliment the Fogg piece. I think it might be my favorite of this group, though I am a firearm nut!
