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Hi All, I have a little bit of a mystery piece, mostly because it appears that a number has been removed from the end of the "11". If you look closely, you will also see a "star" marking. Two separate date marks? The markings look hurried, like the piece has been altered, or am I overthinking this?
The '110' was just poorly struck, the numeral punches would have been in a stub and it was simply hit harder on one side, resulting in a deep impression on the left, progressing to a very shallow impression on the right. The 'star' is just weird, the '36 target mark is correct in form, and placed typically - have seen many slight variations in date codes, but the '46 star should have a solid line circle, and the dotted line around your mark is uneven and sloppy, to my eye, it appears to have been engraved by an amateurish hand rather than stamped. Have no idea why the mark is there, but would have considerable doubt that it originated at the Reed & Barton factory...
Just a suggestion. In England and France, and I dare say in most other countries, it was normal form for hotels, restaurants, etc. to return their silverware to their suppliers for refurbishment, replating and repairs as required. It is also known that some manufacturers would remark such items as part of the process. Are we looking at an item made by Reed & Barton in 1936 and refurbed in 1946? Could the refurb mark for 1946 differ slightly from their mark used on new pieces but still clearly indicate that year?