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Canadian Countermark

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - Canada Start Price:150.00 CAD Estimated At:300.00 - 350.00 CAD
Canadian Countermark


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Canadian Countermark - L. RAY & Co / CAST STEEL / WARRANTED on rev. of Salaberry ½ penny, 1825, Br 992 (M.I. 764, Brunk R-104). Bowers & Merena, March 1987, lot 1297.

This is a mark typical of those used by blacksmiths in England from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. As the two specimens here are both over Canadian undertypes, and the bouquet-sou type is a purely Canadian one, I checked the Montreal directories and was immediately rewarded by an entry in The Montreal directory for 1842-3 ..., compiled by Robert W.S. MacKay, which showed Lawrence Ray as a blacksmith at the corner of Common and King Street. He is not entered in an earlier directory, An alphabetical list of the merchants, traders, and housekeepers, residing in Montreal ..., compiled by Thomas Doige, 1819, nor can he be accounted for in the 1825 Montreal Census. This 1842 entry is the only one for him, so his dates must be post 1825, and end with this sole directory inclusion. The Ray name was a rare one in Montreal, even till the 1870s. Here is a case where the undertype provided evidence of the issuer. (Marked Impressions).

Note: this lot is part of The Richard Cooper Collection.