1868 Shield Nickel - Brunk T-190 C. Thomas

Coin Details

Description

This 1868 Shield Nickel bears a merchant counterstamp attributed to C. Thomas, cataloged as Brunk T-190. Counterstamps were applied to circulating coins by merchants, silversmiths, and tradesmen as a form of portable advertising — the business card of early America. The C. Thomas stamp identifies a business operating in Thomas, one of many merchants who used coin counterstamping to advertise their trade. The host coin is a 1868 nickel from the Shield Nickels 1866-1883 series. The host coin's original mintage was 398,000, though counterstamped examples represent only a tiny fraction of survivors. Struck in 75% copper, 25% nickel, 23.5 mm in diameter. Cataloged as PCGS #919166. 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and Canadian Countermarked Coins" sit at the intersection of numismatics and Americana — each piece is a primary-source historical document of early American commerce.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.