Thanks mate!
I took that from the guy who sold it to me years ago; hopefully experts here will chime in!
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They usually say Magnum Bonum along the top of the spine. I have one but I don't know who the maker is, it doesn't say. The tang is 9/16" wide right before the stabilizer. Mine is there but it doesn't stand out because someone may have polished it at one time or it is just normal age but it is legible. It's pretty old, it has a short tang so it is late 1700's or early 1800's & has ivory scales.
The phrase 'Magnum Bonum' etched into blades spanned a fairly wide use, from pieces etched either at the top flat section of the spine in the early 1800s, to the top side of the spine (same period, though these tend to be smaller razors), to the etching being right on the ground face of the blade. This last kind is most relevant to W&B razors. The examples I have seen the most are the meaty FBU-type WBs with this etching in script along the top part of the blade face.
So how old would this one be?
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...786b919562.jpg
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Here are a few examples I collected from the internet:
1830s:
Attachment 259761
Attachment 259762
1840s+
Attachment 259763
Attachment 259764
Attachment 259765
There might be some information buried in a transition from the straight-lined stamping of the manufacturer to the curved/arched stamping, but I'm not aware if it's an accurate way to date them. Anything within the victorian period can get a little fuzzy with dating since there are no obvious indications of short date range like GR or WR, and the company was fairly consistent over the period and produced a lot of similar models. That said, based purely on aesthetics, I would guess somewhere in the 1850s-1880s range for that one.
Scienceguy that is fantastic, I will have me a W&B that old one of these days enjoy its beautiful
To add to what Scienceguy has already said since it is only stamped Sheffield on the tang and NOT Sheffield, England this dates it prior to 1891 for sure. I believe Science is about as close as you can get with the date, very nice razor you have there :D