I just bought a beautiful 9” MINTON plate on eBay and am finding contradicting marks on the back. I hope someone can help me figure out its age. It was advertised as an “1840 Minton Blue Willow Dagger Border plate,” but after researching the Potteries.org and Connie Roger’s book, I am at a loss. It has several impressed marks on the back: “MINTON” which was used from 1862-71; the initials “BB” which stands for ‘best body’ (would that be denoting the earthenware material used or perhaps the shape?); a cloverleaf, which is the date stamp for 1850; and a capital “S” which is a date stamp for 1889. Then it has the printed backstamp used in 1880 that is shown in Connie’s book as a variation of GG2693 (see 8.5” Minton soup plate). My backstamp is a bit different from hers because it includes the initials “M&C No” in the lower part of the design. I can rationalize some differences in date marks because there may be months or years between the time a plate is potted to the time it is glazed and finished--but the two impressed date stamps puzzle me (1850 vs. 1889), especially with the impressed MINTON used from 1862-71. I would think impressed marks would be done at the same time while the earthenware was still soft, before the initial firing. Any ideas?