Washington / Lafayette Counterstamp on an 1824/Various Dates O-103 Capped Bust half dollar. Musante GW-122, cf., Baker-198E. VF-25 (NGC). A medium silver-gray specimen with the appropriate sharpness present on both sides. Choice for the grade. Obverse with counterstamp of George Washington in a round depression, reverse with counterstamp of the Marquis de Lafayette -- this counterstamp is most prevalent on large cents of the era, as not everyone could afford to have a half dollar marked in this special and historic manner. Indeed, the 1999 Rulau-Fuld Washingtoniana reference reports that only four or five specimens are known on half dollars (Baker-198E, as here), all of which host coins are dated 1810 or 1824. The Musante reference mentions this type in the discussion of GW-122, the Washington-Lafayette medal struck using the same bust punches and dies of this counterstamp.The Marquis de Lafayette was "Americas Guest" in 1824 and 1825, traveling through each of the 24 states in the Union at the invitation of President James Monroe, receiving many gifts along the way at the nearly endless celebrations that celebrated his "homecoming" to the country he helped birth. Many cities and towns had statues of the Marquis erected just for the occasion of his visit. Lafayette put in more than 6,000 miles on his journey, accompanied by his son, George Washington Lafayette, as they traveled by horseback, wagon, steamboat, and canal barge.The Marquis left France on July 13, 1824 aboard the American merchant ship <em>Cadmus</em>, landing at Staten Island, New York on August 15 of the year. On August 25, he visited for several days with former president John Adams at the Adams homestead, Peacefield, in Quincy, Massachusetts. On September 11, he visited with French settlers in New York to celebrate the 47th Anniversary of the Battle of Brandywine. On the 28th of the month he gave a much-heralded speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. On October 17 he visited Mount Vernon and the tomb of his beloved friend, George Washington, and on the two days following, October 18 and 19, he visited Yorktown to celebrate the 43rd Anniversary of that all-important battle that ended British rule in America. On November 4, he visited with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. On December 8 and 9 he visited Washington, D.C., and addressed the House of Representatives in full session. In late February Lafayette began the southern leg of his journey on travels that took him through the original colonies of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and all the other states south of what we would later call the "Mason-Dixon" line. On September 6, 1825, Lafayette returned to Washington, D.C. yet again, this time to meet with the new president, John Quincy Adams.On September 7, the celebrations all came to an end when Lafayette left Washington for France aboard the recently built warship/frigate USS <em>Brandywine</em>, a fitting name for the ship that brought the Marquis back home to his beloved France. Among the nearly uncountable honors bestowed upon him by our grateful nation was an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from The College of William and Mary, and honorary citizenship of Maryland. He was voted the sum of $200,000 by Congress, and a township of land in Tallahassee, Florida known as the Lafayette Land Grant. From our Winter Baltimore Auction of November 2014, lot 3019; our ANA Auction of August 2016, lot 383. The plate piece for the type on page 188 in the 2016 Washingtoniana reference by Neil Musante.
