Vintage Martin headstock stamp with gold leaf?

I have run across something that I would appreciate hearing some other opinions/feedback. A few months back I purchased an older vintage Martin Style 1 ukulele. Within the last few weeks I gave it a fresh set of strings and today I was playing when I noticed that on the back of the headstock there was a slight "glimmer" to the Martin stamp. I had noted something when I first received it, but I believed that it was just lint that had come from the vintage case. Well, today I looked more closely and I am of the belief that there "may" be gold leaf inside the stamp. I am attaching some photo's of the ukulele body and features, and then also of the stamp specifically. I would appreciate any comments or information as to whether Martin ever did this, or if someone else has seen or may own another Martin uke with this feature.

Photo's of the ukulele

Here now are some photo's specifically of the Martin stamp

I have seen many stamped Martins in the past and none of them had gold in the stamp. Perhaps someone did this on their own?

BlackBearUkes said:

I have seen many stamped Martins in the past and none of them had gold in the stamp. Perhaps someone did this on their own?

Click to expand...

I agree with this too....all you need is gold leaf to do so....

If you peel away the mahogany veneer, you will find the entire uke is made of gold.

I have seen a few listed on eBay that appeared to have gold of some sort in the stamping.

RichM said:

If you peel away the mahogany veneer, you will find the entire uke is made of gold.

Click to expand...

haha! And you might get much more when you sell it?

Seriously though, I doubt whether Martin had anything to do with this. As a long shot, it may have been done unauthorized but I don't think so.

Sorry that I can't be of more help.

...it also may simply be rub-off from something on the heat stamp they used...

I had wondered if someone could have done it for identification (as opposed to scratching or writing on the uke) and I guess that could be one explanation.

Chris Tarman said:

I have seen a few listed on eBay that appeared to have gold of some sort in the stamping.

Click to expand...

That is the thing with me, I "think" I have noted it with Martin Ukes I have seen before too but I never had one myself until now. One reason I placed the question on the forum for comment. It had crossed my mind that it could have been something an individual may have done for identification, or that a retailer may have done it to make the Martin ukes they were selling more "special". With the age of this one I just did not know if Martin could have done it, but if so I had never seen it either.

RichM said:

If you peel away the mahogany veneer, you will find the entire uke is made of gold.

Click to expand...

I love it! Well, a Martin uke is like gold to me anyhow (heehee).