I have done as much research as I can on the spoons that I have. I am left with questions about them and hope someone here can help.
I have eight soup spoons (8 inches long) that I have determined to be Dutch Silver. My conclusion is because the hallmark (as shown in the attached photo includes: 1) Maker mark 2) Silver purity mark 3) Duty Mark and 4) Date Mark. This lines up perfectly with the Dutch Hallmark format (1814-present) found on your site.
In my case, the hallmarks are: The Maker's mark which appears to be 'AJD' with additional marks; The Lion Passant with arabic 2 which I understand to mean that the pieces (if authentic) were made prior to 1953 and are .833 silver content; the duty mark clearly shows a 'B' which I understand to indicate the Assay Office of Utrecht; and a date letter of 'A.'
My main question is to confirm or establish the maker and secondarily to establish the date. I found on your forum a question about a maker's mark of 'AJD' which was answered with the statement that the maker was Anthonie & Jacob Johannes Dreisen and that the piece was assayed in Schoonhoven and the date was determined to be 1883.
Although the maker's mark that was shown was similar to mine, they are not the same. In addition, the duty mark in my case is 'B' for Utrecht rather than 'M', so I thought this was not the maker. Further, my Date Letter is 'A' which I take to be either 1910 or 1935 and the answer stated that this mark was canceled in 1910. All of this made me think this was not the same mark as was found in the previous question.
I now have found that there was a maker called either "fa. A.J. Driessen,Utrecht,1919-1943" or "Fa. A.J. Driesen, Utrecht" on different auction sites. I think that though the spellings are different, this must be the same maker and assume that the correct spelling is Driesen (single 's' rather than double 's') but want to be sure. I think that both spellings refer to the same maker even though I cannot find a clear copy of the maker's mark. Does anyone agree that this is the maker? If not, can you suggest another maker that fits the other marks?
If fa. A.J. Driesen is the maker, I think the date must be 1935 and not 1910. Is that correct?
I am curious of the meaning of the 'fa.' and whether this maker is associated with the mark of Anthonie & Jacob Johannes Dreisen? Also, is the 'fa' indicated or present in my maker's mark?
Please note that the maker's mark appears to be rotated 90 degrees to the left in the hallmark.
Thank you very much for your interest and assistance.
