A D.R.G.M. was valid for 6 years and number 36000 arrived on the scene in January 1895 and mid 1897 number 77000 was considered. Therefore, 60198 was issued sometime in 1896, or possibly in very early 1897, and being valid for 6 years(I don't if know if the time period began at the date or at the beginning of the next calendar year) it would have expired in 1902/1903. I would venture a guess that most of the numbers are consecutive and parallel the calendar year but I'm sure there are exceptions of course. So it may be just happenstance, but the stamp "1903" might be a date or a assembly number. More than likely it was made between 1897 and 1903. And I haven't searched for "60198" just yet.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
