Recast? or Maker's Mark?

Saw this old single notch #6 Lodge today, but under the handle on the outside lip are three fairly crude letters "N.C.S."

I've never seen a maker's mark like that, so recast lodge?

Edit: no I didn't pay that for it, just piqued my interest.

Looks like a previous owner used an arc welder to put his initials on the pan.

^^^Agreed^^^

It's neither a recast nor a maker's mark.

One might expect a genuine Lodge to have a molder's mark in the usual spot, 6 o'clock on the bottom. This one doesn't appear to have that. The question would be are the letters raised or incised? If incised, they would have to be in the pattern the pan was cast from; if raised, they would have been drawn in the sand mold after the pattern was removed. I would want a better look at the handle and cooking surface, as that's where the casting anomalies normally associated with copies/recasts most often occur.

Looked again, and I've done my share of welding. These are not weld marks. They are raised, so they were etched in the mold. Each letter stroke comes to a point at the top as if etched by something sharp in the sand mold.

A little too grimey for me to do any major investigative work on the quality of the casting.