1799 Draped Bust Dollar - 9/8 15 Reverse Stars, Brunk C-1124 I. Culnan

Coin Details

Description

This 1799 Draped Bust Dollar - 9/8 15 Reverse Stars bears a merchant counterstamp attributed to I. Culnan, cataloged as Brunk C-1124. Counterstamps were applied to circulating coins by merchants, silversmiths, and tradesmen as a form of portable advertising — the business card of early America. The I. Culnan stamp identifies a business operating in Culnan, one of many merchants who used coin counterstamping to advertise their trade. The host coin is a 1799 dollar from the Draped Bust Dollars 1795-1804 series. The host coin's original mintage was 4.8 million, though counterstamped examples represent only a tiny fraction of survivors. Struck in 89.2% silver, 10.8% copper. Cataloged as PCGS #958347. Counterstamped coins documented in Gregory G. Brunk's "American and Canadian Countermarked Coins" sit at the intersection of numismatics and Americana — each piece is a primary-source historical document of early American commerce. The counterstamp adds a unique layer of provenance that distinguishes this coin from all other examples of its type.