(1838) Token HT-415B, H. Rees on 1831 Large Letters PA

Coin Details

Description

This counterstamp by H. Rees of Philadelphia was applied to an 1831 U.S. large cent with "Large Letters" reverse variety. Henry Rees was a blacksmith located on Arch Street near Broad Street in Philadelphia, documented in the 1837 city directory and census records from 1810 through 1850. His curved "H. REES" counterstamp, sometimes accompanied by "PHILa" in a straight line below, appears on various host coins. Blacksmiths occupied an essential position in early American urban economies. Beyond horseshoeing, a city blacksmith like Rees would have produced and repaired iron hardware, tools, gates, railings, and structural ironwork for buildings. Philadelphia's rapid growth in the 1830s created steady demand for skilled metalworkers, and Rees's Arch Street location near Broad placed him in a developing area of the city where new construction was driving demand for architectural ironwork. The counterstamp practice was particularly appropriate for a blacksmith, who possessed both the metalworking skill to engrave a punch and the hammer and anvil equipment to apply it. Rees produced his own counterstamp punch, whereas most merchants had to commission theirs from a professional engraver. The variety of host coins in the Rees series—large cents, half dollars, silver dollars, and foreign coins—indicates he stamped coins routinely as they passed through his shop.

Rarity Notes

Rarity R-4. Counterstamp on 1831 Large Letters large cent.

Cross References

Rulau HT-415B, Brunk R-100