Large Cent with a name inscribed on it...I FOUND OUT WHO THE OWNER WAS!

[OutBack Duo]

I found this 1827 large cent in Eldon in Miller County, MO over the weekend and when I got the dirt cleaned off of it I noticed it had something inscribed into it. E.B. Thomas, MCH.22

Can anyone tell me what the MCH.22 is or why someone would do this? I have looked everywhere I could think of online trying to find out who E.B. Thomas is but can't find any reference to him.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

don

 

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[My Precious]

Nice reseaching job! And a great find too!

 

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[OutBack Duo]

Just to let everyone know how I researched this I thought I would post how I found it. I was on Ancestry.com searching for E. Thomas and entered in Born 1827 and for state of death I put Missouri, USA. Trust me when I say this wasn't my first attempt at searching the database but this is the one that produced some helpful information. The very first record that came up was for a Elihu B. Thomas who was born in New York in 1827. I went back to the search screen and entered in Elihu B thomas with a birth year of 1827 in New York, USA and death of Missouri, USA and from this search I got the 1910 Census info with a picture. I took the information I found in Ancestry.com and went to books.google.com and did a search on Elihu B. Thomas Missouri. The 3rd entry to come up was a book called "Missouri Historical Review" by Francis Asbury Samson. and on Page 332 at the bottom of the page I found Elihu's obituary. Reading through the obit I found his birthdate listed and that's when I knew I had my guy, his birthdate was March 22, 1827.

I am currently in the process of tracking down his descendents and if at all posible I plan on returning this to the family. I think this is a great heirloom and any family would appreciate having it back.

 

[thrillathahunt]

Nice job on the research OutBack! You know, this really is a great find and story. If you do find any descendants to give it to, it should be published somewhere. It would make a great "human interest" article.

Rick

 

[cntrydncr1]

Fantastic story!!! congrats on the find

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: Large Cent with a name inscribed on it

Does anyone have a copy of this book?


"Merchant Countermarks on United States Coins" by Gregory Brunk


(I don't--but with the whole name on the coin, it has a good shot of being identified if it is a counterstamp)


In my mind, odds are this is a counterstamp--since it is punched into the face of the coin. If it were a personalized one, then the information would've been scratched in with a knife, rather than purchasing a circular punch with the information set into it.



-Buckles

Here is an online listing of known merchant countermarks by Brunk. I see an E. Thomas but not E. B. Thomas.He notes the list is incomplete. http://www.exonumia.com/art/cmd.htm

 

[OutBack Duo]

Thanks bigcypresshunter! this is a great resource to have. I will stick to my previous theory unless someone can point me in a different direction.

Thanks again for posting the link.

Thanks Everyone for all the input into this thread!

 

[jimbob450]

Excelent research and very good post. Jimbob

 

[OutBack Duo]

For those of you who are interested my wife Becky was able to find a very interesting book by Augustus Thomas (Elihu's Son) about his life. I have uploaded it to my website for you to download and read if you like (it's in PDF format) http://www.dvickers.com/The_print_of_my_remembrance.pdf .

The Plot thickens, read page 13!

Don

 

[DCMatt]

For those of you who are interested my wife Becky was able to find a very interesting book by Augustus Thomas (Elihu's Son) about his life. I have uploaded it to my website for you to download and read if you like (it's in PDF format) http://www.dvickers.com/The_print_of_my_remembrance.pdf .

The Plot thickens, read page 13!

Don

Wow! I read page 13. And 14. And 15! You truly have an amazing and uncanny find!

DCMatt

 

[pookie-princess of rust]

wow

 

[CRUSADER]

Thanks bigcypresshunter! this is a great resource to have. I will stick to my previous theory unless someone can point me in a different direction.

Thanks again for posting the link.

Thanks Everyone for all the input into this thread!

I think your spot on, it doesn't follow the normal convention of a 'business' counterstamp.

I to would love to try & return something like this to the family, good luck

 

[OutBack Duo]

One more post on this and then I will leave it alone. I don't know if anyone else noticed or not but E.B. Thomas Died April 25, 1910. I found this on April 26, 2009. 1 day past the 99th anniversary of his death. What a coincidence..

 

[OutBack Duo]

Nice job on the research OutBack! You know, this really is a great find and story. If you do find any descendants to give it to, it should be published somewhere. It would make a great "human interest" article.

Rick

Just to give an update: My wife Becky has done a great job researching the descendants of Elihu B. Thomas. We still haven't found any living relatives but we are close. We are taking a road trip to a cemetery in St Louis this weekend to see the burial plots of the entire family. Hopefully with the new information we will obtain at the cemetery we will be able to find a living relative. I have written a story for W&ET but may need to modify it once we are able to find a living descendant.

 

[warsawdaddy]

all the way,Don.Great find and what a story if you find a living relative.Keep us posted.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Green check? 8)

 

[Iron Patch]

Nice job on the research OutBack! You know, this really is a great find and story. If you do find any descendants to give it to, it should be published somewhere. It would make a great "human interest" article.

Rick

Just to give an update: My wife Becky has done a great job researching the descendants of Elihu B. Thomas. We still haven't found any living relatives but we are close. We are taking a road trip to a cemetery in St Louis this weekend to see the burial plots of the entire family. Hopefully with the new information we will obtain at the cemetery we will be able to find a living relative. I have written a story for W&ET but may need to modify it once we are able to find a living descendant.

Will be a great story!

Just a thought.... I don't know what your plans are for the find but should you meet with that relative I think I would first present the info. with the find in the form of a picture, not taking it along. It buys a bit more time than putting you on the spot. In other words, it makes it easier to not give it up to an a%#$%# !

 

[DrJoePrime]

WOW! What a great story ... and all from a simple "cent" ...Gotta love this hobby.

A job well done. We'll be looking for a conclusion and hope you find some living relatives.

HH joe

 

[OutBack Duo]

I am finally getting responses to the many emails I sent off concerning this coin.

From: Rich Hartzog
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 9:26 PM
To: don
Subject: Re: Question

At 03:58 PM 5/13/2009, you wrote:

I metal detect as a hobby and recently found a large cent with an inscription
on it. Can you tell me what you make of this? I think I have found the original
owner of it and would like to know if this was a common practice. I assume the
owner to be Elihu B. Thomas of St Louis born on March 22, 1827 in NY.

Your countermarked coin is a unique, 'personal' piece, made with individual letter stamps (as opposed to a single punch for all the letters). There are thousands of unique pieces, which we do not consider to be advertising pieces. We list these in the Brunk book, see my book list. With such a common last name, it is always difficult to assign a specific person to it, but with the date, it seems highly likely!



Happy Collecting!

Rich Hartzog
AAA Historical Americana - World Exonumia
POB 4143 Rockford IL 61110 (815)226-0771
http://www.exonumia.com

 

[CRUSADER]

I am finally getting responses to the many emails I sent off concerning this coin.

From: Rich Hartzog
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 9:26 PM
To: don
Subject: Re: Question

At 03:58 PM 5/13/2009, you wrote:

I metal detect as a hobby and recently found a large cent with an inscription
on it. Can you tell me what you make of this? I think I have found the original
owner of it and would like to know if this was a common practice. I assume the
owner to be Elihu B. Thomas of St Louis born on March 22, 1827 in NY.

Your countermarked coin is a unique, 'personal' piece, made with individual letter stamps (as opposed to a single punch for all the letters). There are thousands of unique pieces, which we do not consider to be advertising pieces. We list these in the Brunk book, see my book list. With such a common last name, it is always difficult to assign a specific person to it, but with the date, it seems highly likely!



Happy Collecting!

Rich Hartzog
AAA Historical Americana - World Exonumia
POB 4143 Rockford IL 61110 (815)226-0771
http://www.exonumia.com

Thats what I said, not business related.

 

[OutBack Duo]

Just to let everyone know, We have found the descendents of E.B. Thomas.

My wife Becky and I will be leaving next Saturday (May 30th) around 5am to present the coin back to E.B. Thomas' descendents. The presentation is going to take place at The Great Southwest Historical Museum in Ardmore, OK around 5pm. We will take lots of pictures and also get any newspaper articles that make it to print. 3 different newspapers have been invited.

This was also posted in the General Discussion area http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,244564.0.html where Treasurenet member Ron and Ann (Annmarie) found it and was able to help me track down a living descendent.

Thanks everyone for your input in helping me identify this item.

Don