It surprised me to discover that this shield has hallmarks stamped on it - in fact this pretty little piece has hallmarks all over the place! On the shield on the top left in far bolder relief than the inscription are three circles joined together with a letter in each, the letters being EJH. On the right side there appears to be what could be a shield shape on its side with the angle facing left and the number 9 in it the same as this font Im writing in. Next to it is a rectangle with what appears to be a point and then the numbers 375
On the ring where a chain would attach is a very tiny lion passant I think its called - one front foot off the ground.
Inside, as the pics show, around the mechanism that holds the sovereigns there is the passant lion and a square with a lower case n in it.
Inside the case is a a square with an anchor, a lion passant and then a square with the letter n again.
The back of the piece has taken a beating and inside (ran over it on his horse d'ya reckon?), the outer rim of the keeper mechanism is worn on one side and bent a little, otherwise the springload mechanism works perfectly.
I have figured that this sovereign holder was assayed in Birmingham in 1912 and it was bought to be used!
I cannot place the maker though, I discovered that Hester Bateman had a close friend with the initials EJH - could there be a connection?
I cant find anything that looks even vaguely like this on the internet - is it unusual or so common as muck that its not worth a mention?
I have just added this picture off the net - it is also by EJH and you can see it is very alike except mine has the gold shield instead of being plain and inscription on mine is more ornate and delicate - WHO IS THIS MASKED MAN "EJH"???
CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME IDENTIFY THIS MAKER AND ANY INFO WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. I would also appreciate knowing what the numbers on the shield mean Thank you Kiwi Jen