MORE ON THE G. ERICHSON COUNTERSTAMP

I enjoyed reading Bill Groom's article on the "G. ERICHSON" counterstamps. Here is some additional information and two pictures from my counterstamp research file.

Gustave Erichson was a Texas gunsmith who worked in the greater Houston area, circa 1838 to 1872 [retirement], and died in 1874. He used several different marks on his guns. I have an image of a gun barrel [from an antique gun auction] that was stamped with the same punches as the coin. The periods/dots in the gun mark were impressed with a separate dot punch. One of the dots is also boldly stamped on the coin [an 1858-O Seated Liberty Half Dollar]. The coin is from the 2010 Stack's sale of the Tony Terranova collection of countermarked silver coins.

During Erichson’s career as a gunsmith [c.1838-1872], Texas was under four flags: the Republic of Texas [c.1838-1845], the State of Texas [1845-1861], the Confederate State of Texas [1861-1870], and finally the State of Texas again [1870-1872].

Left: Bill Groom's example; Right: Bob Merchant's

To read the complete article, see:
THE G. ERICHSON COUNTERSTAMP (www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n18a26.html)

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