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Message:: [QUOTE="J Dagger, post: 9520601, member: 10944"]<img src="styles/default/xenforo/smilies/smile.png" class="mceSmilie" alt=":)" unselectable="on" /> Yeh, literally they aren’t exactly the same but for practical purposes on an old item this small they may as well be. Like the 22k and 18k eagles are the same except a tiny number and different cartouche shape. That’s fine on paper and maybe the day the mark was struck on a good sized surface. On a tiny, not totally flat surface or on an older item with wear/polish it may as well be exactly the same. Often the edges of the cartouche get soft or disappear as does the little letter or number in them. For practical purposes it’s incredibly hard to distinguish them on a small old thing often. Using a different base mark altogether would have made things so much easier. Foresight would have been helpful here. I’d imagine it had to do with using existing punches with slight modifications rather than making new ones with though. Much cheaper to use what you have and add to it than make new ones. Also keeping them recognizable I’m sure went into it. If you have 50 different animals or marks it’s more confusing in the short term. The way they did it is more confusing in the long term though.[/QUOTE]