Antique lens ID help please

[Vincent Pidone]

I traded a guy for this, sight unseen. It arrived today.

I've included a picture of the scratch on the inside of the lens so you wouldn't all get envious.

Evidently it was attacked with an ice pick.

It says << Achromatic Lens >> and underneath "No.2"

The No.2 is cut off, as is the serial (?) number, suggesting that the lens barrel was engraved before being shortened to take the lens hood.

So it seems to be an achromatic landscape meniscus that will light up an 8x10 ground glass with fuzzy edges at a wide open f16.

Focal length is maybe 9 or 10 inches.

The aperture blades are probably some composite or plastic, they don't look to be metal.

Can anyone guess a maker or date for this?

Oh, for what it's worth, it was found in Europe.


99305993069930799308

[Steven Tribe]

I don't recall seing a European lens with synthetic blades?
The F scale and aperture ring design looks very standard for "no-name" lenses. I have a number that have exactly the same style.
Engraving the serial number parallel to the barrel is not that common, but I know Grubb did it.
Achromatic was not a commonly used identification - but, again, Grubb did it for a later series (Lens VM).
I would say this was mid-1890's at the earliest due to the F scale and synthetic leaves. I don't think Grubb were making commercial lenses this late. I don't think either the makers name has got "lost" and the serial no. was just a 4 digit number which suggests a seller's embellishment of a trade lens. The "engraving" looks a lot like the finish/style of some early US makers.
The slight surface damage will not influence the imaging capabilities of this lens! Just black out the wounds with india ink.

[Vincent Pidone]

Thanks, Steven.

I figured the "f" numbers meant it wasn't early.

I guess I need to clean my Rapidograph.