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I obtained this wax stamp in England earlier this year since it had my wife's initials on the actual stamp. It has a sterling mark and I believe an imported mark (capital F), London post 1822 mark (lions head in shield) but I don't know much about dating such items (small d) or maker (SBL). Pictures of marks are in the attached site. Just click on the pictures and you'll see the marks. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you. http://www.picasaweb.google.com/bbenjamin429 [/url]

The F is an import mark that was used from 1867 to 1904.
I read the London date letter D as 1899.

I have seen the mark SBL several times, always with an import mark. I don't think SBL is a manufacturer. I think SBL is an English importer, but have not been able to identify who that is.

Regards,
Pat.

SBL is Samuel Boyce Landeck, who registered his mark in London in 1879 and died in 1907. He was indeed an importer, with marks also registered in Sheffield and Chester. His mark appears on items imported from both the Netherlands and Germany; given that Dutch hallmarking was (and is) much more stringent than German, I expect your seal is from the latter, assuming there are no other marks.

Hope this helps!

Hi,
This is a Dutch import, I'm fairly sure that I see the little sword mark just to the left of the SBL. If you give it a good going over, you might discover another mark or two.

Regards, Tom

Thank you Blakstone.

Thank you everyone. Thanks to your help, I've learned a lot about the wax stamp. Great to have access to such knowlegeable experts.