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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;BRandM, post: 2408644, member: 22729&quot;]This is a new counterstamp that i just received a few days ago. This is one of only about two dozen English stamps I have, my interests lying mainly with U.S. issues, and to a lesser degree, in Irish political pieces.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is what&#039;s known as a cutler&#039;s mark, cutlers being makers of various types of edge tools (razors, knives, chisels, cutting blades,etc.). In the 17th and 18th century at least, cutlers working in Sheffield and adjoining parishes were regulated by an official body known as the &quot;Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire.&quot; The company was formed by an Act of Parliment, I believe in the early years of the 17th century. One of their responsibilities was to create and maintain a register of approved makers.</p><p><br /></p><p>The series of symbols, the &quot;lazy B&quot;, arrow, and cross, are the mark of William Butcher, who founded a cutlery business on Eyer Lane in Sheffield in 1819. Other than his official mark and &quot;W, Butcher&quot;, he often used the phrase &quot;Warranted Cast Steel&quot; to denote quality. In this instance, he used &quot;German Steel&quot; in its place. At the time, steel produced in Germany was widely considered to be the best in the world. Although I&#039;ve seen a number of examples of his tools on line, none were marked with the German steel logo. Apparently, this variation of his mark is rare.</p><p><br /></p><p>In any case, Butcher was born in 1791. His father, James, was a cutler as well, but since he died in 1801, it&#039;s unlikely that William apprenticed with him. Butcher was in business alone only until 1826 when he formed a partnership with his younger brother, Samuel, and a razor maker named John Brown. They did business under the name of &quot;Butcher, Brown, &amp; Butcher&quot; until Brown withdrew in 1830. From that time forward the brothers continued for many years as W &amp; S Butcher.</p><p><br /></p><p>The host coin is so worn that there&#039;s no hint of a date, but it can be identified as an English Half Penny c.1800. Butcher&#039;s counterstamp must have been applied in the 1819 to 1826 time period, as these are the only years that he manufactured under the name W. Butcher.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bruce[ATTACH=full]497428[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]497429[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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