Very early Irish pocket knife Pre date letters, WHAT DATE ??

scott1 · Post by **scott1** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:41 am

Hi please help me to date this silver pocket knife. Im struggling to date it as its got no date letter, i think that it is very early but cant match the marks anywhere.
Any information or advice will be very gratfully recieved.
Many thanks in advance for any help offered, Regards Scott.

Post by **Granmaa** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:35 am

Scott,

Why do you think it's Irish. The date is the c beneath the crown and is for Sheffield 1780. You have a rare piece there. I've never seen a marked Sheffield knife from that early a date.

Miles

scott1 · Post by **scott1** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:40 am

Hello Miles,
thanks for the reply, i thought that it was a crowned harp mark, the lines within the 'C' being the strings, no suprise then that i couldnt find any to match it.
I will now go and have a look at the Sheffield marks, i didnt know that they struck the Assay and date marks together.
Many thanks , ive alot to learn it seems.
Regards Scott.

Post by **Granmaa** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:49 am

With regards to striking the town mark and date letter together: it was (as far as I know) only Sheffield which did this, and they only did so on small articles; they had marks with no crown for larger items. I'm not sure why they did this. Does anyone know the answer to this?

Miles

Waylander · Post by **Waylander** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:30 am

I agree with Miles - your knife is particularly early. It may be worth sharing a photo or two of it with the Sheffield Assay Office for their records.

Regards

Waylander
Moderator

Post by **Granmaa** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 7:22 pm

I found a nice fruit knife with a fluted tortoise shell handle. This one is hallmarked 1781 Sheffield.

Miles