Stumbled across this photo on the web, but without any context or explanation. Thought it was interesting enough to post here for comment.
I found this description of what sounds like a similar RB countermark, but cannot get the image to open. Not Sold Item Description U.S.A. Countermark R.B. on Mexico 8 Reales, 1799 Mo FM. Fine-12 (NGC). Small oval on head of Carlos IV, R.B. has been identified as Roswell & Bartholomew, Hartford, Connecticut. R-CONN-9A. Host Very Fine, countermark Extremely Fine.
Your counterstamp was used by a Hartford, CT. silversmith named Roswell Bartholomew LC. He established his business in 1804 with another smith named James Ward. In 1814 they took on another partner named Brainard (unknown first name). Brainard died in 1830. I don't know if Bartholomew and Ward remained in business after Brainard's death or not. There are less than a dozen examples of his counterstamp documented. The latest dated coin he stamped was an 1811 Half Dollar. He probably didn't stamp silverware with it because it's a bit large for that. He also sold military goods (swords, pistols, etc.) and so this was probably his backstamp for those items. A great piece and thanksfor posting it. Bruce
So the question now is why was this mark applied, and right in the middle of Lady Liberty's face? As advertising? And even back then, wouldn't the government be disapproving of this defacement of its coinage?
It would be for advertising more than likely because of the number of coins he stamped. Since there 's about a dozen still in existence, which is actually a fair amount for such an old issue, he must have stamped a large number of them. Silversmiths routinely stamped coins for other reasons as well, sometimes just to test new punches. Counterstamping coins wasn't illegal in those days so it wasn't a problem. Bruce
And keep in mind that counterstamps, which can boost the value of an ordinary coin by 10x to 100x, can be faked, and expertly faked by the Chinese, if not already. And it takes a REAL expert to detect them, I have my doubts about counterstamp expertise at PCGS and NGC.
It's worth mentioning that in this case, NGC (according to their published standards) would assign the coin a "details" annotated grade, as their position is that a privately applied counterstamp constitutes "mechanical damage".
I'll be darned, but I ran across a photo of just that, too. Is this the exact same coin you're referencing? There appears to be a distinctive repair of a hole at the top of this one by which it may be identified.
I don't know if it's the same coin or not, but probably is. I've seen a 8-Reales with his stamp but not this one. The repaired hole really makes this one stand out. Bruce
A final post from me on this topic. I happened to come across one more photo that shows one of these stampings in a close-up. Unfortunately, the particular coin that bears this example was not specifcally identified, but it may well be the 1808 half with which this thread started, because it turns out the picture of that appears on the same webpage as this latest photo. There's also some good information regarding Roswell Bartholomew there. See: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~silversmiths/makers/silversmiths/5402.htm
Thanks for the link Lucky Cuss. It's nice to get "the rest of the story." I wouldn't mind having one of his stamps in my collection, but I've never seen one up for auction or sale. A decent example would likely get a decent price too. Bruce
