Counterstamp types

The following counterstamps commonly attributed to Mozambique are known to exist on Maria Theresa Thalers.

Catalog Number		Description	Counterstamp date according to
Hafner	KM		Schulman	Brunk	Hafner	KM	Gibbs
96	30	MR Monogram; always quite deep. 6.5-7 mm high, 8-9 mm wide.	undated	1767-	1767-79	1767	1865-67
100	45	Crowned PM; P and M separated by a dot. Letters 1.75mm high; crown 6.5 x 4.4mm. Punch diameter is 8mm or more, depending on the application of the punch.	1888-94	1889	1888-95	1889	1888
101	unlisted	Crowned LM; L and M separated by a dot. Similar to Crowned PM countermark.	-	undated	1888-95	-	undated
99	58	Letters P and M; 4mm high in incuse oval. Punch diameter is approx. 7.5 x 6 mm.	1895-	1889-	1880-1900	1889-95	1895

Sources:

• Brunk, World Countermarks on Medieval and Modern Coins, page 316ff (MR, PM), 358 (LM).
• Hafner, Lexicon of the Maria Theresien Taler 1780, #96, 99-101.
• H.D.Gibbs, Counterstamped Coins of Mozambique, in The Numismatist, March 1961, page 300ff.
• Krause-Mishler (KM), Standard Catalog of World Coins, 18th Century.
• Krause-Mishler, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 19th Century.
• Schulman, Remarkable Collection of CROWNS OF THE WORLD, September 1956, page 84f.

Brunk, Hafner, and KM associate the MR countermark with a decree dated May 28, 1767, which states that all crown-sized coins shall be marked with MR and a 4 (examples of a counterstamp with the 4 do not exist). Gibbs, in his article in The Numismatist, associates the MR counterstamp with the rule of Louis I (1861-90), and sets the countermark date to 1865-67. He refers to articles by J.M. Folgasa. Since the counterstamp is (as to my knowledge) only known to exist on coins struck 1779 or earlier, the association with the May 1767 decree seems to be more likely.

According to Brunk, only a single punch was used for the Crowned PM countermark (Hafner 100). In KM, two different punches are shown on different coins. For coins in my collection, four different punches were used; the host coins for two of those punches are post-1945 restrikes and therefore clearly forgeries.

Brunk, Hafner, and Gibbs associate the Crowned LM countermark (Hafner 101) with Lourenco (Lorenzo) Marques, supposedly a plantation owner in southern Mozambique. Lourenco Marques was also the name of a 16th century Portugese trader and explorer, and it is the old name of Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique. I have been unable to find a reference to a 19th century plantation owner with the same name, so the association with a plantation owner is questionable; L.M. might instead simply (and much more likely) refer to the name of the city.

Other literature references

The following early literature references to Mozambique counterstamps on Maria Theresa Talers are known at this time.

• F.G. Duffield, A Trial List of The Countermarked Modern Coins of the World, published in The Numismatist in 1920 and updated from June to September 1921; reprinted 1962 from original articles. Duffield lists Hafner 100 under Mozambique, and Hafner 96 under Nicaragua. The joined "MR" on Hafner 96 is interpreted as "NR". This is the currently first known reference to Hafner 96 (The Numismatist, April 1920, countermark #744) and Hafner 100 (The Numismatist, February 1920, countermark #631).
  
• Friedrich Schrötter, Wörterbuch der Münzkunde, Berlin 1930. Plate 17 displays a Maria Theresa Thaler with Mozambique counterstamp as #271. The exact counterstamp type is currently unknown.
• In The Numismatist, January 1944, "More questions about the Maria Theresa (Levant) Thaler", there is another reference to Hafner 100:
  
  "In the Numismatic Collection of the Melbourne Branch of the Royal Mint there is a Maria Theresa Thaler (Levantine) countermarked with P.M. crowned."
  
• In the Hall Walls Collection of World Trade Coins auction catalog (Paul Bosco, August 4, 1997, New York), we find the following comment about Portugese colony counterstamps on Maria Theresa Thalers.
  "The counterstamps for these colonies are well-documented. Counterfeits may have been made to circulate next to the genuine. The cataloger believes modest numbers of numismatically-motivated counterfeits were made in the early 1960's. ..."
• An article in the The Numismatist, March 1961, lists some counterstamps on Maria Theresa Talers for Mozambique (Hafner 96, 99 to 101). This article shows pictures of Hafner 99 and Hafner 101. It is the currently first known reference to those two counterstamps.

Sales

Only specimen sold until about 1972 are listed, unless some interesting information is associated with the sale.

Auction	Lot number	Hafner	Description
Dr. Eugen Merzbacher Nachf., Coin auction, Münzen und Medaillen aller Länder, Munich, November 7, 1904.	99	unknown	Maria Theresa Thaler 1780 with Mozambique counterstamp. The exact counterstamp type is not mentioned.
James Kelly, Mail auction sale; February 8, 1954	4905	100	Host coin is 1772 Taler.
James Kelly, Mail auction sale; February 8, 1954	4906	100	Host coin is 1780 Taler.
Schulman, September 1956, Remarkable Collection of Crowns of the World	1645	100	Also associates the "MR" countermark (as seen on Hafner 96) with Mozambique.
James Kelly, Auction sale; May 9-11, 1958	1986	100
James Kelly, Public and mail auction sale; September 12-13, 1958	1817	100	Same description as in May 1958 sale. Possibly unsold in above sale and relisted.
Schulman, January 1959, The Maguire Collection et al	1755	111	1780 Maria Theresa taler counterstamped with Portuguese arms for Mozambique. This refers to Hafner 111, which Hafner attributes to Madeira.
Schulman, April 1962, The Samuel Tatnall Collection et al	4654	100
Abner Kreisberg mail bid sale, June 1963	3187	100	Specifies "Ornate crown type", D-41
Schulman, November 1964, Richthofen, Gibbs et al	1468	100
Schulman, November 1965, The Arlow Collection	987	100
Schulman, November 1966, The Arlow Collection Part II	1316	99
Kreisberg - Cohen mail bid sale, November 1968	659	100	Several Browder style counterstamps in same sale, thus somewhat suspicious.
Kreisberg - Cohen mail bid sale, November 1968	661	100	Two counterstamps. Several Browder style counterstamps in same sale, thus somewhat suspicious.
Kreisberg - Cohen mail bid sale, November 1968	662	99	Several Browder style counterstamps in same sale, thus somewhat suspicious.
Schulman, May 1969, Frederico Diaz Lascano Collection, et al	724, 725, 727	99, 100	#725 and #727 are from the Browder collection; host coins are post-1945 strikes. Not genuine.
Kreisberg - Cohen mail bid sale, January 1970	3071	99	Several Browder style counterstamps in same sale, thus somewhat suspicious.
Kreisberg - Cohen mail bid sale, January 1970	3072	100	Several Browder style counterstamps in same sale, thus somewhat suspicious.
Schulman, November 1970, Universal Coin Auction	321	96	Host coin is a 1763 Hungary strike (Dav. 1132).
Kreisberg - Cohen mail bid sale, November 1972	2395	99, 100	Specimen with three counterstamps; two Hafner 99 and one Hafner 100.
Kreisberg - Cohen mail bid sale, November 1972	2396	99	Another specimen with three counterstamps, all Hafner 99.
Rosenblum, Mailbid sale 33C, May 2003	413	111	Rosenblum attributes this counterstamp to the Azores (the host coin in the Rosenblum sale is an 18th century Guenzburg strike).

Conclusion

The amount of reference material for Mozambique counterstamps on Maria Theresa Talers is extraordinary, especially compared to other counterstamps. It is safe to assume that at least some of the Mozambique counterstamps are genuine. However, forgeries are known to exist and widely spread. Especially specimen sold between 1968 and 1972, and thus effectively all later sales as well, have to be considered very suspicious.