To my knowledge two stamps on one coin is relatively scarce. One stamp over another this is the first I've seen. Great pick up.
If it were mine I would research as follows ..... Post on message boards as components. You do not want others to know the message before you do if it is a treasure map. . Do a google image search for the entire mark. Do a google image search for each individual character. It's possible you will come up with something like ABC XXXX GHI XXXX LMN XXXX and you will have to make sense of it. Search into the history of military codes and ciphers of European nations during the Napoleonic period. Read up on codes used by the Knights Templar. good luck
I've heard it said and I tend to agree that when a mark is not a silver smith or jeweler it is frequently a gun smith. If it is neither then it may be a merchant.
As the chain got larger was it divided into divisions or territories each under one of the family members? If so, that could explain the letter choices.
I've seen similar designs on notgeld pieces. I believe the general statement was a protest against reparations with the gist being "You've taken everything we have Would you like some excrement now?" A translation of the piece may help too.
Joseph and Jacob Stiner became bitter enemies, and at some point...mid 1860s I believe...they dissolved their business relationship, splitting the outlets between them. They didn't set up territories or divisions. As a matter of fact, "bitter enemies" is putting it mildly. There's a recorded instance of one brother's attempt at stealing a lease opportunity from the other. That wound up in court and became a very messy affair. At other times, they would open rival stores next to or close to each other in direct competition. Later, several family members also became retail tea merchants. Philip, who was Jacob's son, acquired a few stores from Joseph, believe it or not, and a son-in law who had married Joseph's daughter, Esther, also went into the tea business. His name was Moses H. Moses, and would trade under both the M.H.Moses & Co. and the New York & China Tea Co. names. I'm working from memory here as I don't have my notes handy, so I may have the relationship thing a little wrong. The fact of the matter is though, the various Stiner and Moses businesses and relationships were very difficult to track. The letters probably didn't identify individual stores, but who knows for sure, Harley. I never got a sense of that being the case during my research. Bruce
Winging it on that one but you seem to have already covered it. Too bad. Would have solved the puzzle nicely.
It would have, Harley. It seems that there must be a definitive answer out there somewhere. I've just never come across it. It's always amazed me how relatively small a footprint the actors and their companies made on history. I spent hundreds of hours and many years researching them, and don't have nearly as much information as I would have suspected. A prominent family with huge business interests but little seems to have been documented. While other times you do an internet search and your subject's whole life in uncovered with little effort. Go figure!! Bruce
Do these count as exonumia? Thai Buddhist amulets, appear to be cast of copper. All used, bought cheaply at a local market recently. The guy in the middle was a famous and high horsepower monk at Wat Ban Rai near Dan Khun Thot. I met him once a few years ago, before he died. He liked to smoke cigars. Might be the same guy pictured on the left. The one on the right, reverse side, shows a "Ru See", or shaman/forest monk. They usually wear clothing and accouterments which look like tiger skin.
Here's a cool thing Many will recognize this image of Roger Williams meeting the Narragansett tribe, as it appears on many coins, tokens, and medals.