Here is one of the few counterstampled coins in my collection. It is a "Vote the Land Free" large cent that is part of my political collection. The estimated population of these is from 80 to 100 pieces. Doyle DeWitt originally attributed this piece to the 1848 Martin Van Buren presidential campaign. After Van Buren was defeated for re-election in 1840, he ran for the Democratic nomination in 1844. He didn't get the nomination because he opposed admission of Texas to the Union as a slave state. He ran again in 1848 as the anti-slavery, Free Soil Party nominee. Most of the votes he got were from New York, which was his home state. Some years ago David Bowers’ research indicated that this piece was connected with the Homestead movement, not Van Buren. The Homestead Act was passed years later during the Lincoln Administration.
Thank you for sharing! I remember an 1819 quarter with this counterstamp on eBay a few years ago. It sold for quite a bit (~$800 IIRC), but in hindsight it makes sense since it seems to be a very interesting counterstamp. Is this counterstamp usually seen on large cents? I think there’s only a couple of Bust quarters with the counterstamp.
That is a nice one. I pulled the trigger a few years ago and bought a large cent with this counterstamp. I am certain that few silver coins were stamped, but I also assume that there is a higher attrition rate for silver as it stood a good chance of being melted down over the years. Counterstamped coins were considered cull coins until just a few decades ago. As for the issuer, I believe the case was finally cracked about 15-20 years ago when the original punch was located in a museum in Kansas.
