ScottEnglish Report post Posted December 17, 2021 Hello. I'd like some assistance learning how to correctly read the stamps on the flesh side of leather. The stamps to which I'm referring consist of numerals and underscores. I believe it is a measurement. Please see the example in the photos below. The numerals, if unclear, are 358. Thanks. Scott Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted December 17, 2021 afaik that is the Batch number from the tannery. The underscores just tell which way up the numbers are Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScottEnglish Report post Posted December 17, 2021 (edited) Thanks again fredk. I thought it might be the area in square feet or square metres. Further questions. The same sunken numerals, 146, appear in two places on the grain side of this leather. Would I be correct in assuming these are brand marks? Are cattle branded on the hindquarters or the forequarters? Yes, it's true. I can't work out which end of my hide is the butt! Thanks. Scott Edited December 17, 2021 by ScottEnglish Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredk Report post Posted December 17, 2021 Could be a branding. Is it burnt in? or done with a laser? I've seen cattle branded fore and aft, on the same animal In a previous life I used to spend one or two days a week at livestock sales/shows, to photograph the show winners or high priced animals with their owners for the local farming papers so I got seeing a lot of cattle. In N.I. and I guess the UK we don't have farm or herd branding in the US way. Cattle have ear tags but some farmers also brand on the hind quarters and/or the opposite fore-quarter. Its easy for the rustler* to remove the ear tag but not the branding (* yes, we have livestock rustling in the UK, tens of thousands of animals are stolen every year ) Some countries, notably the Scandinavian ones, do not brand nor use barbed wire so their cattle hides are free of scars. Especially liked by Rolls Royce and Jaguar for their leather interiors. I just checked by random choice 3 pieces of my leather One has; stamped in white ink 7 1/2, with a square next to it, which I know was the square footage of the original piece. This is what I usually see on leather from Le Prevo but. . . No.2 has 23,75 stamped in ink in the same style as your numbers. I know this to be the square footage. This piece came from Le Prevo. The use of the comma betwixt numbers indicates to me that this piece originated in mainland Europe or South America No.3 has a paper label with the bar code, stock number and square footage on it. This piece came from Tandy just 10 days ago. Can you see a comma or stop between any of the numbers on your example? If it has then it might be the square footage, if not then it might be the batch number Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tsunkasapa Report post Posted December 17, 2021 (edited) Another marking is a numeral, let's say 18, with a smaller number, 1-4, underlined, indicating quarter feet. So, 18 with a smaller 3, underlined, would be 18.75 sq. feet. Edited December 17, 2021 by tsunkasapa Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScottEnglish Report post Posted December 17, 2021 (edited) fredk: So the number could be area or batch. I see. I live in rural West Wales. I find your experience in connection with cattle an interesting aside. tsunkasapa: That explains the numerals and underscore on a previous side I owned. Thanks. Scott Edited December 17, 2021 by ScottEnglish Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
