Mystery mark

[jackk]

Hi All, I have seen this mark before but never asked about it. Today, I bought another piece with this mark and it is about time I finally find out about it. Any one have seen this before?

[Bahner]

Hello, looks like the French Minerva's head for silver. The lozenge would be the maker's mark. Has it been scratched out ? Best wishes, Bahner

[jackk]

Thanks Bahner, the head looks definetelylike french minerva, however the other mark is quite mysterious. I do not think it was scratched out. It has nice horizontal lines inside but I do not believe these are scratch lines. Also, some time I had a piece with exactly the same marks.

Jack

[dognose]

Hi Jack,

Just a wild, wild guess!

Silversmith A deals in silver manufactered by himself and also in secondhand silver, he takes in a fine piece made by his main competitor, silvermith B, but he does not want his customers to note the quality of his rivals workmanship, perhaps he feels uncomfortable applying his own mark over that of his rival and so he uses a worn out punch, (they could be file marks and the lozenge shape of French silversmiths would be similar) to make the original producer anonymous.
I have noticed similar treatment on items of Irish silver.
Like I said, only a guess.

Regards Trev.

[jackk]

Thanks, I will then stick to this explanation. Why not?! :)