Thread: finding maker marks

Excellent point. They very well may have had to make several stamps over the years and there is no reason to expect that they would be identical.

I did look at several examples of other bells and that one seems to be pretty darn close, and oddly enough one of the examples I was looking at was a Brookes and Crookes bell that was completely different, however it was an illustration in a book and as far as I am concerned a photo of a stamp trumps a drawing in a book. If feel confident that we have a maker. Now if we can figure out Tom's mark and this G Johnson thing. I will try to get better pictures of that one. Those looked much better in the camera than on the internet.

I concur on the bell: most likely Brookes & Crookes.

The G. Johnson is mysterious, however. I've never seen one quite like it. It's a later model for sure -- 1870's at a minimum, probably 1890's (based on the blade style and the type of bone scales), but the mark is completely baffling.

And Tom's is an enduring mystery as well!

But hey, mysteries are fun!