Who is the maker of this 1876 vesta?

[niceguy1]

HELLO

Who is the maker of this small Birmingham 1876 vesta matchsafe? The only makers mark I can see is a bold M. also has the letter S after the hallmarks.

THANKS

[silvermakersmarks]

This is almost certainly the HM mark of Henry Matthews:



I believe that the date letter is actually the "v" for 1895 rather than the "b" of 1876. Note the lack of a duty mark which supports the later date.

Phil

[niceguy1]

Thanks Phil.

I am certain it's a letter B or a possibly H but certainly not V.

[dognose]

Hi,

Phil's correct. All three date-letters are similar, and easily confused. But Henry Matthews registered his two-part 'HM' mark in June 1893. The Duty mark disappeared as from April 1890. Thus it cannot be 'b' (1876) or 'h' (1882), but can only be 'v' (1895).

Trev