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Message:: [QUOTE="BRandM, post: 1005099, member: 22729"]I just recently bid on three counterstamps in Steve Hayden's latest auction,and after checking the results, found some interesting information in regard to the increasing value of these pieces. I've noticed over the last 2 or 3 years that the price of these coins have gone up dramatically. Something you could get a few years ago for 50-100 dollars is now being bid up to two and three times that price. I'm being constantly outbid on lots I'm interested in. I consider my bids strong ones, and almost always over suggested bids, sometimes by a lot. The "prices realized" sheet showed 22 lots sold at an average price of $153.00, well over the average suggested bid of $100.00. I thought there was a good mix of attributed pieces as well as mavericks, so the strong prices weren't the result of only well known or popular coins being offered. The highest winning bid was $358.60 for a J.F. Robinson (1840's Wilmington, DE silversmith) stamp, and the lowest $12.00 for a very common  Pears' Soap example. I don't know if these rising prices are a result of increasing interest in counterstamps, or because a handfull of strong bidders have come aboard. Anyway, I did win the coin I really wanted. It's the unlisted counterstamp of a J. Paul of Philadelphia. My research points to Jonathan Paul, an 1840's Philadelphia sawmaker, but I still need to do more work on it before I can be sure.[/QUOTE]