This may be a dumb question, but why? Do the “symbols” have any significance, or are you merely curious?

What I see—which may not be correct—is CA2, 3 and 1...

Must be a legal matter, concerning the age of some pivotal piece of evidence.

hhp

The type style for the letters shown appears to be what in the late nineteenth century would have been called Antique, primarily because of the single serif on the C and the straight vertical serifs on the E...

Thanks for that suggestion.

Any idea what the symbols after the letters represent?

Any idea what the symbols after the letters represent?

Without more to go by: not a clue—could be subscripts, could be batch numbers, could be press run identifiers, could be secret military code, could be a bored typesetter…

That's all I have to go by, I fear. So I think I shall call it a day and remain clueless.

The paper appears to have a high woodfibre content. That structure could indicate something from the late 19th, early 20th century. If it is quite brittle that would confirm this.