Featured Pair 925 Individual Butter Knife; Dominick & Haff

~2 1/8 ozt total.
My question has to do with the X beneath the D&H hallmark on the RH knife, (pic 2).

It's pretty obvious (to me, anyway) they weren't produced together, but that X meant something, whichever was the first made.

D&H was absorbed by Reed & Barton ~1895; they continued producing this pattern until ~2015, if I understand correctly.

Can anyone say what the difference in marking signifies? Thanks for lookin'!

 

could it have been placed by the company as a second ?

 

That was my first thought, too.
Great minds... yada, yada...!

 

....

 

You may be right, both of you...
But it seems to me that:
1) Dominick & Haff were rather high-end, an'
2) there doesn't appear to be any visible issue with the one marked X, an'
3) if there were a blemish, D&H could easily have melted an' re-cast, rather than to downgrade, mark as second, an' offer it to their clientele as obviously sub-standard...a blemish to their 'sterling' reputation. All they would have saved was their in-house recycling costs...hardly worth the logistical effort, imho.
I don't think the X indicates a D&H second.

 

that X is certainly a visual issue ......