I'm stumped.

[spacemaker]

Hi, Everyone.

I'm generally pretty good at figuring out silver marks but this one has got me stumped. Any help would be appreciated.

Rick

[spacemaker]

[Traintime]

Possibly pseudo marks. Gated Castle has several comments on the commonality of useage of this mark style. Crowned N will usually lead you to Hanau-style (whether known or unattributed)....this thread has links to examples, although it is obvious that sometimes the N and the crown are two separate marks (and thus not really a "crowned N" mark) unlike your clearly unified one in a single catouche: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=51506&p=159904&hilit=crowned+N+pseudo#p159904

Until further is known, German Hanau-style pseudo is more likely.

[Traintime]

As to an early use of the crowned N, the city mark of Nijmegen for guild mark is a source. A pseudo mark may be just trying to copy that. The gated castle or towers (the appearance of upper windows just being spaces between towers) has an origin in the Hamburg guild marks. Likewise, it to might be copied. Can you provide a photo of the item in whole?

[spacemaker]

As to an early use of the crowned N, the city mark of Nijmegen for guild mark is a source. A pseudo mark may be just trying to copy that. The gated castle or towers (the appearance of upper windows just being spaces between towers) has an origin in the Hamburg guild marks. Likewise, it to might be copied. Can you provide a photo of the item in whole?

Thank you, Traintime, for your help with this. It's really appreciated. The item - which is not with me just now - is about 6-7" across, is thick and heavy, and tests for silver with acid and scratch stone. Unfortunately, someone, somewhere, scoured its surface with an abrasive of some kind.