help me on this!!

i have scoured the internet for similar situations however i cant find an explanations. I have a silver scallop designed dish (a picture will follow) but the problem is, there is only 1 mark - the date letter… Its a birmingham date of 1803. No other marks whatsoever. None have been rubbed out, and im wondering why this is… Can someone help me? How is this possible?

anyone!? Someone has to have a wild guess. Put my mind at ease

With just one letter - and presumbably no other marks such as the lion passant, city mark, etc. - how are we sure its from Birmingham? Am I missing something here?

Regards,

Uncle Vic

I was waiting for the promised picture before attempting a reply.

ill post the pic in 10 mins, the reason i know is the style of the date letter. Give me a minute and ill resize the pictures

as promised here are the pics, sorry, they lost some quality but you get the full picture. the hallmark is recognisable if you look at 1803 birmingham. no passant or makers mark, no other signs of hallmarks even through a 30x loupe. although engraved there is ‘FX’ and ‘71530’ which i think is the pattern number… ?
scallop2.JPG
Scallop1.JPG

The f looks more like a Sheffield 1923 f to me. However without the other components of the hallmark, and especially if there is no evidence that they were ever there, I would hesitate to call this British sterling. If 71530 is a pattern number it implies a considerable number of previous patterns which I don’t think would have been the case in 1803 Birmingham - and I don’t think they actually stamped pattern numbers on their silver anyway.

i also thought the sheffield mark, however the two are mighty similar. As for the ‘pattern no’ its not stamped but lightly scratched into the surface. I guess ill never know if its 1 or the other. Its a strange situation, either 200 yr old or 80 odd year old. Thanks for the input, much appreciated. The hallmark appears to be stamped 2x. On top of each other. Still doesnt explain why theres only 1 mark! Lol.

the style does seem art deco in the way the handle is shaped though. Ive no idea what its used for.

If the number is scratched on the surface then it was probably put there at a later date and may be an inventory or pawnbroker’s number. I am still dubious about it being a partial British hallmark - that just did not happen.