Concerning the use of GR as a mark of quality, I have also seen numerous swords marked with the VR under crown, as mentioned here. Those swords were of the period and had block lettering. I guess what I'm hinting at is, if the widespread use of GR represented quality, where does the Victorian pieces fit in to this equasion? Where they also spurious? Or real Brit pieces sold off in private purchase? I think the only way to truly pin this one down is for someone with access to alot of said pieces to display the markings. Schnitzler and Kirshbaum sword markings are different from traditional Brit stamp marks. It would be interesting to compare other GR/VR markings to try and find the real from the copies. The crown might be the clue to solving the mystery.
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