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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;BRandM, post: 1249092, member: 22729&quot;][ATTACH]134297.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]134298.vB[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; I thought these two counterstamps would be worth posting because each is unusual in its own way. The first consists of a beautiful pictorial stamp ans the second, though not attributed, has an interesting history in regards to attempts by researchers to find its maker.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Pictorials are those who&#039;s devices consist of an image or images only with no text. Nice ones such as this are scarce and today are gaining in popularity with collectors. A majority of pictorials depict various renditions of the American eagle, but other images known include dogs, horses, pigs, horseshoes, stars, roosters , and other random geometric shapes. This stamp on an 1820 Large Cent apparently represents a flower. Though it&#039;s purpose is unknown, a close examination of it shows how intricate the pattern is. A talented die-sinker spent a lot of time preparing the punch. It appears to be a single stylized arrow-shaped stamp struck five times in a circular pattern to complete the flower-like design. Although just a guess, I would estimate the counterstamp was struck on the coin in the 1835 / 1845 time period.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Turning to the &quot;SPL&quot; monogram stamp. Monogram style stamps like this are a bit unusual, and of course like all initials-only stamps are difficult to attribute. This one is listed by both Brunk (L-23) and Rulau (Z80M). There are presently 23 or 24 examples known, <i>all </i>struck on high grade 1851 Half Cents. This example is probably the best or nearly so. Of all the thousands of counterstamps I&#039;ve seen over the years this is the only one I can recall that shows mint red in the stamp itself. My photo doesn&#039;t do it justice, as most of the red doesn&#039;t show</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Initially, these issues were thought to be from the west coast, as a dozen examples were&nbsp; discovered in Southern California in 1970. Also, they were first thought to have been issued by the Southern Pacific Railroad (Southern Pacific Lines or &quot;SPL&quot;) for whatever reason. Maybe it was wishful thinking because a California Gold Rush era attribution would make it rare and very desireable. Subsequent research has disproved this theory however. Railroad historians consulted know of no such logo ever used by the Southern Pacific. In addition, the line didn&#039;t begin operating until a short stretch of track opened near&nbsp; Newcastle, CA in June, 1864. This was long after the end of the gold rush (about 1855). It also occured to me while doing my own research that it would be highly unlikely a west coast stamp would appear on a copper coin. These large coppers just didn&#039;t circulate much past the eastern seaboard and midwest. In California gold and silver were king.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; There&#039;s a possibility thet the &quot;SPL&quot; counterstamp may be attributed someday, but the pictorial probably won&#039;t be. I thought these were both interesting counterstamps and wanted to post them for you to see. If anyone has comments or information to share let me know. Thanks for looking.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bruce[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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