Pattern numbers occur on most Doulton ware and can be used to establish the date a pattern was first introduced. Some patterns, however, were long-lived and whilst the pattern number can establish the earliest possible date of a piece, the date of last use of a pattern is seldom if ever known.

How are Royal Doulton seconds marked?

The second method is to score a line through the backstamp, with two separate ways seen here - the line is horizontal through the words Royal Doulton or diagonally across the entire backstamp, either way making it obvious that it has been purposely done to show the product is a seconds.