"Here's a quick question for our E-Sylum readership:

In a discussion the other day with a friend the question of the distinction between the terms "countermark" and "counterstamp" came up. I know this topic has been written about before, but do not recall when/where. My personal interpretation is as follows, and I'd like to know if most numismatists find this acceptable, or if there is any kind of consensus on this issue:

"A countermark is an unofficial struck mark or stamp applied to a coin, token or medal for commercial reasons such as a revalidation, or for advertisement purposes. A counterstamp is an official struck mark or stamp applied by a governmental entity to a coin or token to revalue, validate or grant legal tender status in the issuing authority's area of influence."

In both instances this would exclude engraved marks, and marks for purely decorative purposes, and I also exclude full-flan overstrikes in any case.

Judging from the very few references in my library, 'countermark' appears to be the term most commonly used for both categories (witness Brunk's several works), however Richard Doty's "The Macmillan Encyclopedic Dictionary of Numismatics" does not list "countermark" at all but presents an interesting discourse under "counterstamp", with much historical background and defining it as an 'official' mark. 'Countermark' is nowhere mentioned until the very end in the closing statement "a synonym for counterstamp is countermark." For what it's worth, in Spanish the term counterstamp does not exist at all, and the only term, used indiscriminately, is "contramarca".