Dutch spoon, exported to England

[Ubaranda]

Recently I bought nice spoon, made in the Netherlands and exported to England in 1891. British marks are quite clear to me, but relatively Dutch I have questions.

Dutch marks:
- Minerva head on the handle of spoon (unfortunately, the assay town letter is unreadable) - assay office mark;
- lion rampant with key - 934 silver fineness mark and export mark;
- "930" - silver fineness mark;
- crowned "O" - duty mark;
- and one unknown to me mark (indicated by the question).

My questions:
1. What does it mean mark, indicated by the question?
2. Why "930" was used in addition to lion rampant?
3. Why the date letter is absent?

Will be grateful for any help.

[dognose]

Hi Alex,

I haven't seen the '?' mark before, but I think it is likely to be one used by the Van Straten family, who were silversmiths in the town of Hoorn. There was a change in ownership of the firm in 1891, so perhaps the mark is an interim one? The Van Straten's were known to have had dealings with Barnet Henry Joseph, the importer to England of your spoon.

Trev.

[oel]

Hi ,

The crowned O on your spoon is a pseudo mark; the O is too narrow and has a vertical bar, the fineness in numerals, higher than sterling, is often seen in combination with pseudo marks and British import marks.
See for the crowned O: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32028
Your spoon should have a Dutch year letter but it could be very tiny and hidden in the decoration. Please check for a Dutch maker’s mark because I believe that the question mark is not an unknown maker’s mark of ‘van Straten’ but another pseudo mark(guild city mark) and perhaps used by van Straten.
Next week I have access to my library and perhaps can give you some more information.

Oel.

[Ubaranda]

Hi!
Thank you all for responses. I'll try to find the year letter mark on the handle of spoon. I would be grateful for any further help.
Alex.