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The best I can do going by the trademark information on this site and the patent year on your fork is say 1897, 1898, 1899 or 1900. http://www.925-1000.com/Gorham_Date_Code.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The pattern's patent date and the Gorham trademark were included as part of the die for this item, they would have appeared as long as the die was in use - the Strasbourg patent (#D27850) was issued for a 7-year term (design patents at that time could be protected for 3½, 7 or 14 year terms), doubtful that it would have been included in dies produced after the pattern was no longer protected. The Gorham trademark dating guidelines are really just that, indicating periods that the mark was generally used. As an example, the mark shown on your spoon, most often appearing on pieces from the last quarter of the 19th century, is not uncommon on souvenir spoons not even designed until well into the 20th century (can't recall seeing it used on any full-line flatware patterns introduced later than 1900); it's also found on some 20th century holloware, as evidenced by their date marks, and probably most notably on pieces done for Gorham in the 1920s by Danish designer Erik Magnussen.
So if I'm understanding you correctly, flatware pieces that have the "Pat. 1897 L/A/G" on them were probably produced in the seven years between 1897 to 1904 or 1905. Other flatware pieces that only have the L/A/G were probably produced from 1904-1905 to 1950 when the "modern" release of Strasbourg was done.
I'm trying to learn as much information about this pattern as I can. I have the 1897, 1909, and the 1910-1911 catalog reprints. Are there other sources of information?
The patent dates were more likely to have been placed on the early dies, as to how long the dies were in use for the various pieces, no real way to tell, could have been many years, especially on less common items...