Help with Hallmarks

[xrundog]

I restored this Withecomb's Wide Bore large billiard. Silver marks correspond to tobacconist T.R. Withecomb in Manchester. The UK seller had this designated as a 1914 pipe. I like to verify myself and am familiar with the English hallmark tables. I can't figure this one. The band is tarnished like, and presents as silver. But the marking are odd. Maybe it's not sterling? The stem is a push tenon with a slotted bit. Seems like the Brits were ahead of the Americans on using these stems, but the pipe looks more like 1920s. Other pipes the seller had were mostly teens and 20s as well. Here's pics of the pipe:





Here's a hallmark shot before the pipe was clean.

 

[jpberg]

Damn. If Tim is having trouble with identifying a pipe…..

 

[captainsousie]

The second stamp of the Hallmark is a bit unclear in the photo. Otherwise I could give you an answer.

 

[xrundog]

The second stamp of the Hallmark is a bit unclear in the photo. Otherwise I could give you an answer.

I’ve shined the band since that photo. The hallmarks are freakin’ tiny! I’ll see if I can manage a better pic.

 

[xrundog]

Okay, I have the camera set on micro, this is probably as good as it gets without a special lens.

 

[beefeater33]

Looks to me that the uncrowned lion’s head in the middle would denote London. But the date mark looks like 1914 on the Chester chart?

 

[huntertrw]

Help with Hallmarks​

Here you go!

No, wait...did you mean those stampings sometimes found on the precious metal embellishments of certain pipes?

 

[xrundog]

@beefeater33 I guess the Chester marks are where the seller got 1914 from. It at least resembles the right hand mark. The center mark doesn’t really look like any city mark.
@huntertrw , you are not a nice man.

 

[captainsousie]

@beefeater33 I guess the Chester marks are where the seller got 1914 from. It at least resembles the right hand mark. The center mark doesn’t really look like any city mark.
@huntertrw , you are not a nice man.

@beefeater33 seems to have cracked it. I was thinking London but the 3rd mark seemed wrong. The Chester Mark seems more likely.

 

[ssjones]

Are you using a digital camera, or phone camera? Most newer phone cameras zoom quite a bit.

 

[xrundog]

Are you using a digital camera, or phone camera? Most newer phone cameras zoom quite a bit.

A digital. I have a basic iPhone 14 that doesn’t seem to do better. Even on my phone, I expand the pic and it looks pretty clear. The city mark looks like a seated figure with a cross, sword or scepter of some sort. Date block is a spiral or horn figure. The real problem is aligning what’s there with the lists. That’s why I was wondering if they are faux marks on coin silver or something similar. What I don’t know is that’s something anyone ever did. Like maybe Manchester was mad about not having their own marks and just did what they wanted. Seems far fetched, I know.
I’ll experiment with my phone and see if I can get a nice big fat pic.

 

[greeneyes]

I've got two Withecomb's Wide Bores. The second has a broken amber stem and I don't know offhand where in all this mess it is, but the first is a GBD branded Withecomb, though the silver ferrule (with system) has no hallmarks. I'll have to find the other and see if it's hallmarked.

 

[xrundog]

I've got two Withecomb's Wide Bores. The second has a broken amber stem and I don't know offhand where in all this mess it is, but the first is a GBD branded Withecomb, though the silver ferrule (with system) has no hallmarks. I'll have to find the other and see if it's hallmarked.
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Nice! Yours is obviously older than mine. The lack of hallmarks makes me wonder. Was Manchester thumbing their collective noses at the silver overlords?

 

[greeneyes]

No hallmarks on the other one either. I've seen lots of older pipes without hallmarks on their silver but I'm not sure the significance. I believe I have some old adverts of theirs somewhere as well.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

View attachment 329386View attachment 329386Looks to me that the uncrowned lion’s head in the middle would denote London. But the date mark looks like 1914 on the Chester chart?

That actually looks like a crowned leopard head to me (you can see a cross shape in the crown), but it denotes London regardless.

 

[xrundog]

That actually looks like a crowned leopard head to me (you can see a cross shape in the crown), but it denotes London regardless.

I can see it now. Unfortunately the London date stamps are all very clear letters.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I can see it now. Unfortunately the London date stamps are all very clear letters.

Maybe someone in the assay office had too many pints of bitter during lunch and grabbed the wrong stamp that day.

 

[xrundog]

Maybe someone in the assay office had too many pints of bitter during lunch and grabbed the wrong stamp that day.

We like things all neat and tidy in the past and they never really were.

 

[greeneyes]

Looks indeed like Chester / 1914 to me.

 

[xrundog]

Here’s a pretty good phone pic.