Here we have mint- to near-mint octagonal luncheon plates from Royal Crown Derby (England) in the gorgeous exotic birds, flora and fauna dinnerware pattern, Olde Avesbury, on the Ely Chelsea shape. Each measures approximately 8.75″ in diameter, which is only 1/4″ wider than the salad plates in this pattern, so they’d work equally well for salads or as any other type of side or accent plate. They are offered by the each plate. This listing offers you your choice of 5 individual octagonal plates, each with the production date noted in the drop-down menu. All of the plates are marked Royal Crown Derby Olde Avesbury, and all are also marked A. 73, which identifies their shape as the Ely Chelsea. In addition, each plate has a production date cypher in roman numerals, which does not correspond to the actual production year. For instance, the cypher LI appears on one of these plates. It obviously doesn’t correspond to the year 51, but it does correspond to a particular production year of Royal Crown Derby pieces — the year 1988. The drop-down menu lists each of the plates available in this listing by their production cypher followed by the actual year of production to which the cypher corresponds. Why is all of this so important? This pattern has been in production since 1933, nearly a hundred years, and it has been produced in quite a few different colorations and pattern variations, so a salad plate made in 1935 will have a different color and even a slightly different variation of the pattern than one made in the year 1960, and both of those will differ slightly from those made in the year 2000. This can be confusing — all of the variations in pattern and coloration are considered minor enough that the pattern is considered one and the same for every piece produced since 1933. For some collectors, the variations are interesting and desirable, so they don’t pay much mind to the year codes, but others want all of their pieces to match exactly, and the only way to do that is to collect pieces produced in the years in which you know the colorations and patterns match up exactly. Some people also want the true vintage pieces, and others don’t care. The older the pieces, of course, the rarer they are, and the greater their value. By listing them by their production year, everyone gets to choose exactly what they want. Vintage : this pattern has in production since 1933; see the drop-down menu for the production dates of the available plates in this listing. Condition : Remarkably clean and fresh pieces, in overall minty, or near-mint to mint, condition. We do not use these grading terms lightly, ever. No chips, cracks, silver/gray utensil marks, any other types of marks, stains or crazing. The only sign of use is between zero and a few very light, completely colorless, scratches to the glaze, the kind that are visible only when a piece is held up at just the right angle to a direct, bright source of light. Honestly, we couldn’t find any of these scratches on any of the plates, but just in case we missed them, we note their possibility here. May have “tarnish” — light variations in color that are part of the natural patina process that gold trim undergoes. We consider funky odors (cigarette smoke, mildew, etc) to be an important part of a condition report. Corndogcache is a 100% non-smoking environment, and we’ll let you know if any of our vintage items smell like it (or anything else) from activities they may have been involved in before they came to us. If you’re unable to pay within terms, please reach out with your Plan B. So just shoot us a message. If we messed up — everybody does — give us a chance to fix it. We promise it was unintentional, and we’ll do what we can to make it right.