1869 Seated Liberty Half Dollar - Brunk S-993 G.J. Stivers

Coin Details

Description

This 1869 Seated Liberty Half Dollar bears a merchant counterstamp attributed to G.J. Stivers, cataloged as Brunk S-993. Counterstamps were applied to circulating coins by merchants, silversmiths, and tradesmen as a form of portable advertising — the business card of early America. The G.J. Stivers stamp identifies a business operating in Stivers, one of many merchants who used coin counterstamping to advertise their trade. The host coin is a 1869 dollar from the Seated Liberty Half Dollars 1839-1891 series. The host coin's original mintage was 795,300, though counterstamped examples represent only a tiny fraction of survivors. Struck in 90% silver, 10% copper, weighing 12.4 grams, 30 mm in diameter. Cataloged as PCGS #940395. 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and Canadian Countermarked Coins" sit at the intersection of numismatics and Americana — each piece is a primary-source historical document of early American commerce.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.