Hi All
Can somebody please confirm this date? It looks like Chester 1894 but the date chart I have found shows the letter in a square which cut-off corners while this is in more of a shield with the lower edge shaped?
Seems to have been made by Minshull & Latimer which was registered in 1885.
Thanks, cheers,
T
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Minshull & Latimer, Chester, 1894. 
Thanks for confirming, much appreciated.
Cheers,
T
U welcome! ----____----
I suspect that’s just a side-effect of the interaction between the punch and the design on the piece itself. More “illusion” than “reality.”
Well, that leaves you with a considerable problem, since the only shield-shaped date letters from Chester use a completely different style of lettering.
I have noted that the Chester lion passant for this date letter cycle can be shaped with the “pip” at the bottom. I haven’t explored the date letter punch shapes but I’m quite happy to accept that they too vary in the same way.
Phil
I’ve just had a look at my site and see that I actually have some examples of date letters in this alternate style. 1894 for example:
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Always a little surprising when the assay offices play “fast and loose” with their own standards, but it crops up a lot!
Fantastic, thanks for that.
Cheers,
T
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