Here's a nice counterstamp issued by one of the older Philadelphia sawmakers of the early 19th century. There were a lot of small independent manufacturers starting in the 1820's and 30's. Johnson & Conaway was one of those, founding their saw works on Cherry St. about the same time that Henry Disston was still a fledgling company. In time Disston would buy most of the Philadelphia makers and a lot of those in other cities as well. By the 1880's or 1890's he had a near monopoly on the saw making industry in the U.S. The two partners in the company were Charles Johnson and William Conaway, both independent makers before joining forces in the mid 1840's. I'm not sure, but I believe Conaway eventually sold out to Disston as well (Johnson died in 1852 and left Conaway as the sole proprietor). There are only three previously recorded examples of J&C counterstamps, but none with an eagle as part of the stamp. If you look at the illustration above of a backsaw manufactured by the company you'll see an example of their use of the eagle in their logo. The advertisement is from the 1848 Philadelphia city directory. This is my 12th Philadelphia counterstamp and my second of a sawmaker. The other was issued by Jonathan Paul who predated J&C by a few years. He was also eventually bought out by Disston. Anyway, I think this is a really nice early sawmaker stamp that some of you would like to see. As always, comments are welcomed, and thanks for looking. Bruce
Neat. I almost bought a countermarked seated Liberty quarter from a local shop. It was listed in Ralau and for $25 I thought it was interesting.
Do you remember what was stamped on it mill rat? usually $25 is a great price for a counterstamp on an S/L Quarter, unless it's just initials or random letters or numbers. Bruce
Thanks Barry. You should pick up a nice stamp here and there. They're quite a few Canadian stamps documented if that's what you would be interested in. I have a rough draft from Greg Brunk of his chapter on Canadians that will be in the new edition of his book. If you want a copy p/m me with your address and I'll send a copy to you. Bruce
No, I don't remember. Definately not random - it was listed in the book. Handsome host quarter too, I'm gonna pick it up tommorrow if it hasn't sold.
Nice piece. It's cool to be able to find the history of the company. Wonder if it had any connection with the Great Neck Saw Co. They may have bought Disston. Great history.
Thanks! I'll pm you. Every show I go to I look for counterstamped coins. There's another one on Sunday, so I'll keep my eyes open.
Great looking CS, Bruce. I am a sucker for eagles on coins, and this one doesn't dissapoint! I can really appreciate the work that went into making that presentation with the information from the stamps creator. It is something I am trying to replicate for the few CS's I have gathered!
I always liked eagle counterstamps too Hunter. They were commonly used by sawmakers, lockmakers and other tool manufacturers. I think this one is particularly nice although a bit weak around the talons and arrows. BTW, thanks for the info on the R.O. Wood C/S. Bruce
Hi Bruce I just dug what I believe to be a saw counter stamp in a civil war eara privy in Philadelphia. It has an eagle clutching arrows BRING—RST & ——— PHIL Any thoughts? Tyia Michael Frechette Phila
Your counterstamp probably reads "BRINGHURST & KIRBY," Michael. John Henry Bringhurst was one of the early Philadelphia sawmakers c1840s. He worked alone for a few years, but then took in John (?) Kirby as a partner. Bringhurst's history is a bit sketchy, so I don't know when the partnership commenced. I know they were together in at least 1857, but this was near the end of their partnership. I believe Kirby withdrew and Bringhurst teamed up with a man named John Verree under the name Bringhurst & Verree. That company was more of a general iron and hardware manufacturing business, but they did make saws. Their saw business and possibly the entire company was bought out by Henry Disston in the 1860s. I couldn't find an image of any of Bringhurst's partnership stamps, only ones of his when he worked alone. There's some information about Bringhurst on the internet if you want to look into his businesses. If you can get a decent picture of both sides of the coin, I'd like to see it, Michael. Thanks for posting. Bruce
