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Canadian Countermark

Currency:CAD Category:Coins & Paper Money / World Coins - Canada Start Price:100.00 CAD Estimated At:200.00 - 250.00 CAD
Canadian Countermark
SOLD
170.00CAD+ (34.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2016 Jul 20 @ 22:56UTC-4 : AST/EDT


Buyer’s Premiums will be added on all items as per the Terms & Conditions of the sale. Invoices will be emailed out following the RCNA Convention. Visit gbellauctions.com to view a digital copy of the catalogue for this sale.
Canadian Countermark - J.W. (John Wanless) within rectangular cartouche on rev. of Canada Victoria 50¢, 1870 L.C.W. (M.I. 985).

Likely the mark of John Wanless, Toronto jeweller, silversmith, and medal manufacturer, 1865-1905. According to the Federal Census of 1871, John Wanless was born in Scotland in 1830.

The mark tallies with the one shown by Langdon for this Toronto jeweller and medallist. Many of his small medallions were produced around the turn of the century and appear not infrequently in the marketplace. Sports and fraternal medals are the most typical types produced by this maker. John Wanless (1830-1905) originally went into partnership with William Bell for ten years, from 1851-1861. He continued on his own from that date till 1890 when his son joined him. The firm was still producing medallions as late as 1921. [See Robert C. Willey’s Dictionary of Canadian medallists, ed. by Ronald A. Greene, Can. Num. Research Soc. Occasional Paper No. 2, 1998]. (Marked Impressions).

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