Hallmark ID

[sandra shaw]

http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/data/9 ... fg_001.jpg
Could you tell me if this Chester hall mark is for 1889 1824 or 1802 please.
regards sandra.
.

[MCB]

Hello Sandra,
Until 1839 Chester Assay Office used a lion or leopard head mark in addition to the town mark.
Until 1890 there would ordinarily be a sovereign's head mark to show duty had been paid.
The style of the town mark and the absence of the two other marks mentioned suggests the item was assayed in the short period of 2nd May to 5th July 1890 but this leaves a problem as Chester Assay Office only ever authorised three TH marks of the style here:
In 1876 for Charles (sic) Hughes a Liverpool watchmaker.
In 1883 for Thomas Hill & Co Coventry watchmakers.
In 1895 for Tom Hayes a Birmingham silversmith.
One of the watchmakers may have made whatever it is we are looking at here but as it doesn't seem to be a watch case this is unlikely. Tom Hayes wasn't authorised to use a Chester mark until 1895. He began working in Birmingham around 1885 so it is possible he used an unauthorised mark at Chester in 1890. However question marks still remain.

Mike
.

[sandra shaw]

http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/data/9 ... fg_004.jpg
Hi Mike and thanks for your reply, the object in question is a ring, a metal detecting find. Could TH possibly be Theodore Hartmann who imported jewllery and silver and F the import mark, this would mean the year letter was missing.
Sandra.
.

[MCB]

Hello again Sandra,

Sorry to say I can't pick up the image of the ring at present but in the meantime the TH mark, as I recall it, was a rectangle with a pellet between the initials but Hartmann's mark was registered in 1906 within a diamond shape.
An oval shaped mark containing the letter F for imported wares was required to be in addition to the usual assay marks which would have included the correct assay date letter but I don't recall seeing two stamps with a letter in them.
I hope this answers the later questions.

Mike
.