1873 (CC) Seated Liberty Half Dollar - Brunk P-125, Rulau NY-NY 230

Coin Details

Description

This 1873 (CC) Seated Liberty Half Dollar bears a merchant counterstamp attributed to Rulau NY-NY 230, cataloged as Brunk P-125. Counterstamps were applied to circulating coins by merchants, silversmiths, and tradesmen as a form of portable advertising — the business card of early America. The Rulau NY-NY 230 stamp was punched into the coin after it left the Mint, repurposing it as a merchant advertising piece. The host coin is a 1873 dollar from the Seated Liberty Half Dollars 1839-1891 series. The host coin's original mintage was 398,000, though counterstamped examples represent only a tiny fraction of survivors. Struck in silver, 23.5 mm in diameter. Cataloged as PCGS #920166. 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and Canadian Countermarked Coins" sit at the intersection of numismatics and Americana — each piece is a primary-source historical document of early American commerce.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.