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Old 24th January 2017, 07:10 PM   #6
Jim McDougall
Arms Historian
 
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
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Thanks Jasper,
The 1685 is by far the earliest year I have seen on these.
It seems the most predominant is the majuscule A with the drop down V center bar, and it seems the most structured letter. The character and strength of the VOC seems to vary from thinly scribed to heavy with sometimes somewhat irregular lines. .
Naturally this is Amsterdam, by far the major center and chamber, and I always wonder why the usual city stamp marks used on other blades does not occur. Is this because the company was outside the auspices of the usual guild or local controls ?

Also,the other chamber letters seem typically irregular, and not with the structured character of the Amsterdam A. I have understood the R for Rotterdam is situated below the VOC device rather than over as in the other letter markings.

I had heard also of a 'Z' marking for Zeeland, anything to that?

Great examples!!! Thank you, I am very envious of these amazing examples!
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