What do the letters on the back mean?

Those are hallmarks. They act as a consumer protection system dating back centuries. The series of punches tells you the purity of the silver, the city where it was tested, and the exact year it was stamped. Finding the maker mark usually involves two initials. You cross-reference those letters with the assay office records for that specific year to identify the silversmith.

I have been looking at spoons with handles made of a different material like wood or shell, was that normal back then?

Yes. Silversmiths frequently mixed materials in the late eighteenth century. A silver bowl pinned to a mother-of-pearl or carved boxwood handle is standard for the period. They did this to keep the spoons lightweight and visually interesting.

Why is my spoon shaped like a leaf?

Leaf shapes tie directly into the function of the object. Silversmiths modelled them on the tea plant itself, creating a visual link between the scoop and the dried leaves it held. You find broad oak leaves, vine leaves or delicate tea leaves. Birmingham makers often stamped the veins heavily into the bowl to give the thin silver extra structural rigidity.

My grandmother left me a small silver scoop and I noticed the bowl has this faint gold colour left on the inside, did someone paint it?

That gold colour is gilding. Silversmiths applied a thin layer of gold to the inside of the bowl using a mercury amalgam process. It was an expensive finish designed to stop the silver from tarnishing. Tea contains tannins that can react with bare silver over time. The gold wash prevented any metallic taste from transferring to the tea leaves while they sat in the scoop. Much of that original gilding gets washed away. Finding a spoon with a bright gold wash is quite rare today.

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Antique Silver Caddy Spoons

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Antique silver caddy spoons are small, short-handled utensils that first appeared in the late eighteenth century to scoop dry leaves from a tea box into a teapot, featuring wide bowls and stubby stems tailored to fit neatly inside the closed compartments.