Jordan, as has been stated above it started life as a commercial that was subsequently diverted to military use. You will quite possibly find that both the side plate and take-down lever are also numbered on their bottums in the commercial fashion.
The grip strap marking indicates that the pistol was the 23rd weapon of the First Battalion staff of the 18th Infantry Regiment of the Reichswehr. The additional marking on the back of the frame is also the weapon number. Numbering in such nonstandard locations is referred to as Weimar army Provisional marking and would have been placed there prior to the 1922 Reichswehr Directive on unit markings. The grip strap marking would have come later.
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