When I read about the J.L. Polhemus counterstamps in last week's E-Sylum, it jogged my memory. Some months ago this counterstamp on a gold coin was discussed. At that time I thought I remembered a $50 Slug with that counterstamp sold in a Morgenthau sale. I was away from home at the time and could not check my catalogs. This time I looked and found it, but it was not J.L. Polhemus, but rather J.T. JONES CORNER MONTG. & COMMERCIAL ST. In any case that coin would be the ultimate for a counterstamp collector. The coin was in Sale 388. 3/15/1938, lot 179.

In Western Americana, "the unique 1851 $50 slug with the J.T. Jones counterstamp, an historic record of San Francisco's vigilante days."

The coin was consigned without provenance as lot 1600 of the Stack's January, 2001 auction. Bidding opened at $6,600 and closed at $32,000. It sold into a prominent mid-Atlantic states collection. Don Kagin and Tony Terranova were underbidders. The coin is plated in Kagin, p.380, n.1, and Brunk 99.

J.(ames) T.(hompson) Jones was the proprietor of the famous Blue Wing Saloon, 138 Montgomery Street. This saloon was one of the most notorious of the Barbary Coast.