1847 Rogers Bros Linden Variation 1891 Oddity

[hpidaves]

This twisted handle master butter knife is in the 1847 Rogers Bros Linden Variation Pattern, 1891. It has a bit of an oddity in the maker's mark. I can see that it is marked 1847 Rogers Bros, but everything except for the Rogers has been stamped out. Did this have something to do with a company being renamed?

Anybody have any ideas why this would happen?

Thanks,
Dave

[dognose]

Hi Dave,

I wonder if the alteration to the struck marks is the result of the many legal actions around this period over the use of the Rogers name?

Trev.

[Traintime]

Not Rogers alone. I have seen variations of such marrings, just shy of mark destruction, on pieces from different firms. They seem to few to be household silver related, so I suspect this may be commercial dealers releasing recovered, dead, or excess stock to a secondary market. Most pieces I have seen are of decent quality that could have been used in that trade. 1847 A1 was commercial grade at one time. By using a final stamp, much like the postal "killer", it might be possible to keep out any unscrupulous bottom feeders who would otherwise turn over aquired the stock in competition with you. [It might even have been done by the manufacturers at the factory if these were better than 2nds but had to go for some reason. But the quantity still seems rather low if this were the case.] Sample pieces, un-returned, could also provide some explanation. Those do have counterparts in the china wares trade, likewise surfacing in limited quantities.