1887 Indian Head Cent - Brunk C 300 Cattaragus Cutlery Co.

Coin Details

Description

This 1887 Indian Head Cent bears a merchant counterstamp attributed to Cattaragus Cutlery Co., cataloged as Brunk C-300. Counterstamps were applied to circulating coins by merchants, silversmiths, and tradesmen as a form of portable advertising — the business card of early America. The Cattaragus Cutlery Co. stamp was punched into the coin after it left the Mint, repurposing it as a merchant advertising piece. The host coin is a 1887 cent from the Indian Head Cents 1859-1909 series. The host coin's original mintage was 20.6 million, though counterstamped examples represent only a tiny fraction of survivors. Struck in 88% copper, 12% nickel, 19 mm in diameter. Cataloged as PCGS #912260. 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and Canadian Countermarked Coins" sit at the intersection of numismatics and Americana — each piece is a primary-source historical document of early American commerce.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.