No chips to the enamels, screw back, nice early GEMSCO hallmark with the wreath.

 

Luckenbach Steamship Co. (1850-1974), New York

 

This was one of the longest-lived and most successful of US shipping companies. Lewis Luckenbach started with a single tugboat in New York and initially built his fortune by pioneering tug-and-barge transport of coal from Norfolk, Virginia (the outlet for the coal fields in what is now West Virginia), to New England. Luckenbach was later a major force in the intercoastal trade. The flag was a red burgee with the letter L inside a ring in white.

 

Edgar F. Luckenbach reorganized the company between 1960 and 1970 by withdrawing ships from the unprofitable intercoastal trade and re-deploying them on the international charter market. At the same time, he broadened the shore side activities of the firm. The Luckenbach Steamship Company and its affiliates served over 150 ship-owning principals and their vessels on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The end came in 1974.