Counterstamped Coins

I came up with some info and wanted to post it for anyone who's interested, Jeff.

I still don't know for sure the purpose of the State Quarter Counterstamp Project, but here goes.

They estimate a total of about 200,000 examples of all the different captions applied to State Quarters. Apparently, each state had a relevant phrase struck only on their coins. BTW, the group's total output was struck with individual punches on fairly sophisticated fixtures designed and built exclusively by the participants. I don't know how many people were involved, but it must have been a large number. Coins were acquired from searching bank rolls, and distributed via bank counting machines. It's been estimated that from 18,000 to 20,000 coins were struck per year. The ones I've seen so far are as follows.

"Suckd Orange // R.W.E." This is a project issue as you thought. Ralph Waldo Emerson (R.W.E.) once called New York a sucked orange. The example I saw was on a NY State Qtr.

"J.Frog" Their first issue with only 16 examples struck on Michigan SQ's Michigan J. Frog was a 1950s animated cartoon character.

"1/4 Notes" Seen on Puerto Rico, Nevada, and Michigan SQ's.

"Got Lei'd" On Hawaii SQ.

"Cul De Sac" Rhode Island SQ. The meaning isn't known to me.

"Im OK" On Oklahoma SQ of course.

"Mrs Hippie" ON Mississippi SQ. Pretty clever!

"Got Crabs" Maryland SQ.

I can't come up with a reason for the last three.

"Weight Of Double Poor (Door, maybe?)"Massachusetts SQ. One example.

"Cat Raptor" North Carolina SQ.

"Rusty Naper (or Napier)" on Tennessee SQ.

Man, what an odd series of counterstamped coins. A lot of effort was put into it. I wonder why?

Bruce

 

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Fascinating! I will dig out the one I have ( not one of these).

 

Looking forward to seeing it.

Bruce

 

I found the 2012 thread on Coin Community where I saw another one of these quarters. The pictures were deleted by the moderators at some point but as I recall it was on a Washington, DC quarter, and the lettering was very similar to what is discussed above. Here is the text, per the finder's post:

I received a George Washington quarter in my change at a convenience store last year. ...the front says "queen nancy" (and) …on the back it says "all kneel before me".

 

Off this particular subject, but I have an 1800 Draped Bust Large Cent with a strong “8” counterstamp (countermark?) on the reverse. Any thoughts as to origin/function of the stamp (mark?), and whether it’s a countermark or a counterstamp? I’m also curious as to its function, and whether it’s considered a “mark” or a “stamp.”
Thanks

 

You're right on all counts, Lord M. Though Countermark is technically used to describe an official governmental mark of some sort, the terms are pretty much interchangeable. I call everything a counterstamp, while Greg Brunk describes them all as countermarks.

Bruce

 

Thank you gentlemen. At least for me, the coin’s age trumps the stamp (good or bad).

 

I do like counterstamps and chop marks. Here are a couple recent additions:
Top: Gran Colombia 1821 8 reales stamped "MDQ" (Moneda de Quito) for use in Ecuador.
Bottom: French 1866 2 Franc defaced to protest Napoleon III's defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Sedan. Probably by anti-royalists in favor of a Republican government.
Links have some additional details from my personal (non-commercial) coin blog on what I'd been able to find out.

 

From another forum:


Kolob is a star or planet described in the Book of Abraham, a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement. The Book of Abraham is traditionally held by several Latter Day Saint denominations as having been translated from an Egyptian papyrus scroll by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Keep up the good detective work - track these pranksters down

 

hello sir I believe I found a original j frog quarter in my change today here’s a pic if you end up seeing this I know it’s a older post!

 

Hopefully it works

 

Hello friends I’m not sure if the picture isn’t posting simply because I’m new or what... But it’s a Michigan J Frog quarter! Sorry if it posted multiples! Thank you all!

 

Sorry, Brian, were not getting a picture.

Bruce

 

Oops turns out I could have pasted it and was confused sorry!

 

Idk why it won’t post guys it’s showing up on the message and then just disappearing once I post wish I could delete earlier ones for you!

 

Alright hopefully this works, or im out of ideas! Got out the old pc, lol i guess my phone just doesnt do well on here! thank you for the understanding!