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Message:: [QUOTE="BRandM, post: 1165811, member: 22729"][ATTACH]121150.vB[/ATTACH][ATTACH]121149.vB[/ATTACH]  I just bought this counterstamp at a fixed price sale from Steve Hayden. He told me that it was formerly in Dave Bowers collection, so this is the third one in my collection that he once owned. I love having the provenance on pieces I buy, especially knowing it came from the former holdings of such a prominent numismatist. The piece is listed by Brunk (M-512) but is unattributed, or I should say was unattributed. As a "bonus" Steve also told me that Bowers had attributed it to a Philadelphia clock and watchmaker named John McManus. That's the only info he had to pass on to me, so I decided to research the man myself. I found from old Philadelphia city directories that there were clockmakers with this name listed in 1840 only and again from 1855-1859. I don't know if they were father and son or another relation, but because of the time span they were likely different people. I would date this stamp to the 1855-1859 time period, because even though the coin has seen heavy circulation, the stamp is in relatively good condition, probably grading VF. Yes, counterstamp collectors do grade the coin as well as the counterstamp. In any case, I thought it was a neat piece. Thanks for looking. Bruce[/QUOTE]