"The Hunt For Mr. Loveless", by BRandM

I don't know of any other L.S.& M.S. RW. stamps but there are many examples from other railroads JA. There are two basic kinds of stamps that were used, those to mark property and others known as sealers. All or nearly all property stamps were from prepared punches and were used to mark railroad equipment, tools, or other objects of value. Employees with access to them would of course make souvenirs at times.

Sealers were prepared stamps made of soft metal to mark crates or boxes of freight with a wax or lead seal. They were meant to discourage tampering as any disturbance of the seal would indicate a possible problem. Very similar to the modern plastic "padlock" seals used on truck trailers to discourage thievery. If the seal is broken or missing the load might very well be refused at its destination. These stamps though, being made of a softer metal, were not suitable for stamping a copper or silver coin and as a result show a very mushy, sometimes partial strike.

There are only about two dozen different railroads represented by a documented counterstamp, including both types. There are more for sure, especially sealers, but they haven't yet surfaced. Of all those documented, nearly all are struck on Large Cents or other smaller copper coins. Two examples that I'm aware of struck on silver coins are a Central Vermont Railroad property stamp on an 1854 French coin and a Great Western Railway stamp on an 1853 S/L Quarter. None are known on anything nearly as large as a half dollar. I have only one other railroad counterstamp in my collection from the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore RR. It's on an 1845 Large Cent.

Although I can't be certain that Loveless made it himself, it has the look of a homemade stamp.

Bruce

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.