@robertusa Unless the cap is marked uniquely for the corner it marks and has a date on it, it is not to identify it as an original.?ÿ Some surveyors used to mark caps with such detail but other than a few government agencies and some others monumenting or remonumenting PLSS corners, that has been the exception rather than the rule.
In most cases, caps only have the surveyor's (or company's) name and license number.?ÿ In those instances, the only thing the presence of a cap can do is identify who was responsible for it's placement.?ÿ Even if it has the name & number of the surveyor who was the subdividing surveyor, how would you know that a capped iron is an original as opposed to a later reset under the direction of that surveyor?
If it is a reset, that it was set by the same surveyor who did the subdivision, might give it a bit more credibility in a following surveyor's evaluation of a corner, but if it is a reset, it has the same status as a reset by any other surveyor.