THREAD - IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTERMARKS

Thousands of countermarks are known, and unrecorded ones regularly show up on Numista and other forums. They can be divided into several categories:

► Official counterstamps to revaluate coins or give official currency to some foreign coins or tokens. A good example of the latter is provided by the octagonal or oval George III punches on Spanish and Spanish-American silver pieces of eight reales. Brazil offers many examples of the former, e.g. the raising of the 10 réis piece to 20 réis.

► Private countermarks to advertise one's business; raise the value of coins or tokens; turn obsolete coins or tokens into a tally or check; test punchmarks (e.g. jeweller's); etc. Some countries have produced very few or none; others have produced very many, such as the United Kingdom, the USA and, to a lesser extent, Canada.

► Fake official (and less frequently private) countermarks, either imitating real official countermarks (e.g. to make a quick profit or fool modern collectors) or pretending to be official countermarks (such as the G R 5 ORD countermark long believed to be authentic). There are many fakes on the market of the Arabic countermarks for the Nadj, the Hijaz, Pemba, etc., on British India rupees and Maria Theresa thalers.

Private countermarks are by far the most common. Most of them, unfortunately, are almost impossible to identify because they are made up of initials and/or numbers. In some cases, however, there is historical documentation to identify such countermarks, such as the initials FD punched in large letters and originating from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, in the 1860s-1870s.

The purpose of this thread is to help anyone who has a countermarked coin to identify it, or at least to keep a record of it so that, with a little chance, others will come forward with identical countermarks. To take a hypothetical example, if four people have the same countermark, and three of the four are located in Canada, there is a good chance that the countermark originated from Canada. This is already a start.

Useful websites and web pages:
► Brunk's list on Rich Harzog's website [site is now defunct]
► Devins & Bolton countermarks [site is now defunct]
► Counterstamps on Maria Theresia thalers
► ...

Useful Numista posts:
► Numisdoc - Countermarks
► Official (?) countermark on Portuguese coin
► Polish eagle on Dutch coin
► M countermark on 1772 1 real
► "B B" on 1801 Spanish 8 maravedis
► Countermarked Mughal coin
► THOMAS PETERS
► 20 MARS 1878
► Pseudo "H" on Cartwheel 2d
► Manchu (?) countermark on British penny
► H. MEADOWS on British penny
► US states on Lincoln cents
► Crowned C countermark on 1868 French franc
► Bust of George III on Cartwheel penny
► Fake (?) SEDAN countermark
► H. PROVOST and T.B. CLENCH Canadian countermarks
► Regimental numbers on 1908 British ½d
► WARREN 958 QUEEN E - Toronto 1920s (wait before scrolling!)
► sc.rednek's thread
► LE PICOTIN APERITIF
► ...

Countermarked coins in the Numista catalogue:
► Search: All issuers + countermark
► Search: All issuers + countermark / circulating only
► Search: All issuers + countermarks / circulating only
► Search: All issuers + countermarked / circulating only
► Search: All issuers + counterstamp
► Search: All issuers + counterstamp / circulating only
► Search: All issuers + counterstamps / circulating only
► Search: All issuers + counterstamped + circulating only
► Search: Brazil + counter
► Search in Google Images: "countermark" site:en.numista.com
► Search in Google Images: "counterstamp" site:en.numista.com
► ...

You're welcome to post your countermarks below ↓↓↓

I recently acquired this coin:



Does anyone recognize the countermark?

Woow, fantastic usefull information!!
can this information be fixed in the Numisdoc part of this site?

Thanks Petrus!

I was thinking of writing up a "numisdoc" at some point, though it will have to wait.

Your knowledge of countermarks is surpassed only by your knowledge of JavaScript formatting!

Seriously though, this is a good idea for a compilation- I had a countermarked George III Soho halfpenny that was one of my first coins, that I now no longer own, but would like to see if anyone can ID it just for closure's sake- it looks just like a simple "£" to me but perhaps it is initials of sorts?

Thanks, Sophie!

Here's a better picture of your enigmatic countermark (give it 2 seconds to go down to the right post). It could be meant to be an object rather than a letter or symbol.

There's already a Numisdoc about countermarks
Improvments welcome (texts, pictures, etc.)

That's true ─ I saw it soon after it was posted. I forgot about it!

Quote: "Camerinvs"​That's true ─ I saw it soon after it was posted. I forgot about it!

​No problem, thread can be a nice way in identifying/confirming before uploading to Numisdoc. More dynamic than a static Numisdoc.
Your intro here about differences between types of coutermarks would be a nice addition to introduce the Numisdoc. I'll have a look later this week to add some intro text based on yours if that works for you.

Camerinvs, if you love countermarks, I have a mystery for you!

Quote: "oggy"​Camerinvs, if you love countermarks, I have a mystery for you!

​I'm listening ... or rather: reading.
.

Quote: "pejounet"Your intro here about differences between types of coutermarks would be a nice addition to introduce the Numisdoc. I'll have a look later this week to add some intro text based on yours if that works for you.

Go right ahead! Let me know if you have any questions.

I just won this countermarked British cartwheel penny:



Obviously it's a private countermark by someone who probably just wanted to test a punch. Does anyone recognize the eagle and what company used it as their emblem or logo?

EDITS:

► Interesting: HISTORIC BLOCK RESTRIKES BEST QUALITY EAGLE [link removed as the page was hacked].

► Also this: Ridgeway Civil War Research Center. But it looks like it has nothing to do with the Civil War; it seems to be a London countermark.

► And another button with BEST QUALITY on the back.