US Coins

Coins serve as promotional billboards: Karoleff

By Brad Karoleff

Published: May 12, 2016, 1 PM

Jacob Houck from Baltimore marketed his patented panacea assisted by counterstamped coins like this 1832 Capped Bust half dollar advertising the product.

Bottle image courtesy of www.peachridgeglass.com; counterstamped coin courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

1832 Capped Bust half dollar is counterstamped with the advertisement for Houck's Panacea in Baltimore.

Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

Collectible bottle advertises Houck's medicinal product that used to be contained inside.

Bottle image courtesy of www.peachridgeglass.com.

Designs of the Times column from May 30, 2016, Weekly issue of Coin World:

Sometimes coins can double as an advertising medium through the use of counterstamps — messages punched into one or two sides of a coin.

This practice was extremely popular in the United States in the 19th century. One of the more famous counterstamps found on coins from this era promotes the use of Houck’s Panacea.

Jacob Houck (1822 to 1888) was born in Frederick, Md., and moved to Baltimore in 1828 to attend the Maryland University School of Medicine.

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After graduation he developed his “panacea” and received a patent in 1833.

The panacea was made from only “vegetable matter,” but included the following items; rye whiskey, gum gualacum, sugar, oil of juniper and oil of lemon.

If you count the rye, corn and barley contained in the whiskey, I guess you can call it vegetable matter.

Houck sold his wonder drug to the public for the then high price of $1.50 per bottle, but who would quibble on the price for a drug that would cure almost all of man’s afflictions? It was claimed that it would cure more maladies than I can list, including indigestion, diarrhea, piles, fevers of all kinds, smallpox, coughs, gout, hysterics and even venereal disease!

Houck sold the panacea from his dry goods store on Market Street in Baltimore across from the Peales Museum. He moved a number of times during his career and even sold the rights to duplicate his medicine.

You can find listings on the counterstamped coins in Russell Rulau’s Standard Catalog of United States Tokens 1700-1900 book listing them as HT-140 to -145.

The most common host coin is the Capped Bust half dollar, followed by the Spanish Colonial 2-real coin as the second most frequently used coin.

The counterstamp found on other coins and denominations is much scarcer.

The bottle illustrated with the article is No. 373 in the Baltimore Bottle Book, now in its fourth edition, and published by the Baltimore Antique Bottle Club Inc.

You can also find contemporary advertising concerning the panacea to supplement your collection.

You do not have to rely solely on coins to have fun in this hobby. Expand your horizons, and enjoy your collection even more!