The GF stands for gold-filled, I believe the H stands for hard.
The item is gold-filled, meaning it has a micro-thin layer of 18K gold over a base metal.
Older gold-filled items such as pocket...
Initials inside a shield are generally the maker's mark. From 1695 to 1720 it was more common to use the first two letters of the maker's name instead of the initials. Nowadays, three initials is the...