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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 9546809, member: 101855&quot;]The counterstamp is for King Charles III of England. There was a shortage of coins in circulation in England in the late 1790s, and the mint at the Tower of London was woefully inadequate. The quick solution was to counterstamp crown sized coins with a bust of the king. The initial value was set at 4 shillings and 8 pence. </p><p><br /></p><p>The British people didn’t give the pieces a warm reception. This limerick summed up the view of many: (Not quite the right wording)</p><p><br /></p><p><i>“To get their coins to pass, the mint stamped the head of a fool on the neck of an ass.” </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Another comment </p><p><br /></p><p>“<i>Two heads, but not a crown.” </i>(A crown was worth 5 shillings.) </p><p><br /></p><p>This was done again in 1804, this time with a larger counterstamp that was taken from the Maundy penny. This time the value was set at 5 shillings. </p><p><br /></p><p>These counterstamps were placed on other coins including, rarely, the U.S. Bust Dollar.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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