Those are some very nice cymbals from that particular era and weight. It appears to be a late 50's Small Stamp.Mike
+1.
I'm still trying to come up with a simple set of objective tests which can distinguish the late 50s Small Stamp from the mid 50s Large Stamp Type 3 (the one without the 3 dots in a triangle). Both the LS3 and the SSA tend to have the top poorly pressed in, and relying on the bold pattern isn't always reliable.
For the other Large Stamps I do have easy and reliable tests. And 70s vs all the 1950s are very easy to tell apart. I think I'm on the edge of a nice test on the LS3 vs SSA and then I find out it doesn't pan out when tested on 100 of each. Have you placed a ruler near that one? The height should be about 1 1/4" if it is a 50s Small Stamp and a bit under 1 7/8" if it is a Large Stamp like this one:
[img]http://black.net.nz/avedis/images/Large-no-dots.jpg[/img]
How much under for both of these trademark stamps depends on how much of the top is missing when it is pressed in. But they are still different enough in height to make it easy to tell which is which when you use a ruler.
Thanks in advance.