Need Help with Liberty Head Large Cent 0

[Derek T.]

I recently inherited a coin collection from my late brother. Amongst the collection were a dozen Liberty Head Large Cent pieces. One of them has something stamped into it. It's an 1835 with "PITTSB" stamped into the obverse side. What is the significance of this? How does it affect the value? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Woods020]

Same as the other a counter stamp. Someone may know the person or organization that did this. 

[JKK]

Very sorry about your brother. Can't imagine how that feels.

The way this works is that some people collect these and some do not. Some might be swayed, especially those from Pittsburgh in this case, or who appreciate the unique look. To people who collect countermarked pieces, that's probably very interesting. To people who don't, it's a reject. The overall wear looks to me like the mark happened back in the day, so that's a positive. Since any coin like this is fairly unique, there is not a way to assign it an absolute value (always bearing in mind there is what a dealer would pay, what a dealer would sell it for, and what a private collector might pay).

What you might do is search Ebay sold listings for countermarked large cent, see what people paid for them, then see what people paid for that same issue without a countermark and in similar condition (offhand I'd give this one VG). Not perfect, but it would get you closer.

[Woods020]

Here is a resource on counter stamps. It’s quite the list but maybe will be useful. 
 

http://richhartzog.com/art/cma.htm

[Derek T.]

Thank you all! I appreciate the help. And thank you for the condolences. 

[Just Bob]

3 hours ago, Woods020 said:

Here is a resource on counter stamps. It’s quite the list but maybe will be useful. 
 

http://richhartzog.com/art/cma.htm

Nice to see that others know of the Hartzog site. The  exonumia community lost a friend and major player when Rich passed away.

Although the earlier posted "K.Cook" counterstamp was not on the list, this "PITTSB" counterstamp is. Unfortunately, if the coin is not listed in Rulau, you may have to consult Greg Brunk's book "Merchant and Privately Countermarked Coins" for further information. It isn't cheap, though. The last time I saw a copy for sale, it was priced at over $700.

[Conder101]

There is a specialist on the CoinTalk forum forum though that has a copy or two of Brunk who might be ably to give you more information.

[Derek T.]

Thank you for the suggestion. I've actually requested a copy of Brunk's book via an inter-library loan. If it doesn't work out, I'll follow your lead. Thanks again!