New Information on the YORK Countermark

(Note: This article was written in 2007.) A previously unknown example of the YORK countermarked coin (Brunk Y-23) has recently been discovered (in 2005). The host coin is an 1857 U.S. Half Cent (see figure 1).

Figure 1 - This coin was found in the floor-board of
an 1845 house located in York, Pennsylvania.

The coin was listed on eBay. The seller of the coin was a real estate agent living near York, Pennsylvania. According to the seller, the coin was found in the back room of an old house that he was selling, located at 225 East Prospect Street in York, Pennsylvania. The house was built around 1845, and is shown in figures 2 and 3. The house was part of a duplex. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the building on the corner was used for business as a store or shop, and the adjoining building was used as a residence (this is where the coin was found).

Figure 2 - The duplex building where the "YORK"
countermarked coin was found in 2005.
Image Credit: Historic York Inc.

In late 2006 I moved to a location near York, so I decided to go see the house. However, when I drove to the house to take a picture (in 2007), it was gone! The house, and some surrounding structures, had been demolished earlier that year. I performed some research, and made some phone calls, and was able to locate a copy of the survey report for the house. (A survey report must be filed before demolishing any historical building in the city of York.) The report contained several photographs of the house, as well as some background information regarding the history of the house.
Some of the uses of the building over the years, according to old maps of the area, were as follows: dwellings (residences), "sausage factory", "meat" (butcher shop), and grocery store. This was before the creation of zoning laws. Nineteenth century owners of the property had the following occupations: hotel owner and real estate investor, business owner, butcher, barber, launderer, clothes presser, and an employee of the Century Ribbon Mills.

Figure 3 - A different view that shows the residence
(on the right) where the coin was found.
Image Credit: Historic York Inc.

This chance discovery allows us to attribute this countermark to York, Pennsylvania with a high probability. The coin could have been dropped there at any time during or after 1857. Interestingly, the countermark is struck almost identically to another known example (see figure 4). The purpose of these countermarked coins is still unknown. Perhaps there is an old newspaper article that mentions them, waiting for a researcher to discover.

Figure 4 - A different example of the YORK c/m
that is stamped in the same position.

In addition to this coin, another example of this countermark, also on an 1857 U.S. Half Cent, and also previously unknown, has been seen recently (2006 or 2007). That means there are now at least eleven known examples of this countermark. Nine are on 1857 U.S. Half Cent pieces, one is on a 1795 U.S. Large Cent, and another is on a worn-date U.S. Matron Head Large Cent (this last coin is plated in both Brunk and Rulau).

I would like to thank Historic York Inc. for sending me a copy of the survey report and the photographic images of the house.

References:

1. MERCHANT and PRIVATELY COUNTERMARKED COINS, by Gregory G. Brunk. World Exonumia Press, Rockford, Illinois, 2003.
2. Standard Catalog of United States Tokens, by Russell Rulau. Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin, 2004.
3. Correspondence with the seller of the coin (2005).
4. York County Heritage Trust, York, Pa. (2007).
5. York city directories (1850-1880).
6. Historic York Inc., York, Pa. (Survey report and photographs - 2007).