German crescent & crown variations

[her ladyship]

Help!
I recently acquired a pair of old suger tongs and i'm having trouble with the mark. They are 800 silver, and what appears at first glance to be a trefoil, or club, with a very thin cresent thisclose to it. I suspect they may be German, and I've noticed that the crown and crescent mark varies a lot. Am I right, and this is just an especially abstract crown, or is there another mark very similar from somewhere else? Any suggestions gratefully received!

[blakstone]

You are very probably right; as the crown and moon were struck by each individual maker (rather than some sort of official government authority) they do come in a wide variety of forms.

[her ladyship]

Many thanks for that. I thought that could be the case, as all references I've seen show no standardisation of this mark. One looked like a cupcake with a cherry!