British silver army belt and pouch

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Ken Maddock

I hear what you are saying about making the marks visible,
Just thinking about sports medals, cutlery, plates and jugs etc. most in my limited experience have hallmark on the reverse.
just a taught nothing more
regards
Ken

I understand your point, Ken.
In fact the stamping of a hallmark on the front face of an object such as this one may ensure its value but it sure looks bizarre and unaesthetic, somehow disfiguring the piece.
Probably meanwhile other criteria also applies, both in Britain as surely in other countries. In Portugal, for one, fine metal objects are always stamped in discreet places; there are even punches of different sizes for pieces of both little and large dimensions. I also have a little British jug with the hallmarks in the bottom; a Russian sugar tweezer with the marks in the interior of one of the handles, a Dane spoon marked in its arm back and an Egiptian brooch with the tiny mark in the fixing pin.
I take it that, when the consumer buys a gold or a silver object, he has a chance to be shown its hallmark by the seller. Once he is confident that the mark is in it, there is no need to show it off to others by having it stamped in the middle of its face.