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Apr 11, 2010, 10:16 AM
#1
Need ID on touch marks please
I have found my first trade silver this year, 6, possibly seven pieces. Narcisse Roy has been identified on a large brooch, but I don't know about the marks on my smaller brooch. What I see is a stamping of a heart with a cross in it, a separate stamping is rectangular and it reads to me : I W, or if flipped, M I. The letters are quite separated so I suspect initials. I'll try to put up pics but I'm unfamiliar with this format.
I just found four more pieces today after posting this, including another large Narcisse Roy brooch. (tractor damaged though).
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Apr 11, 2010, 11:43 PM
#2
Re: Need ID on touch marks please
IW: unknown maker.
See Covenant Chain, p. 121.
Lorraine Cross,
Mark IW
Unknown maker
Heye Foundation
I would say this is a significant find, and the associated NR pieces help fix it in time.
What river are you near?
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Apr 11, 2010, 11:57 PM
#3
Re: Need ID on touch marks please
M. Hamilton (silver in the fur trade) suggests "I.W." to possibly be John Wood (circa 1782).
Says he was "Associated with for trade silversmith Narcisse Roy. Seems that this could be a possibility, especially with the NR silver being found at the same site.
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Apr 12, 2010, 02:55 PM
#4
Re: Need ID on touch marks please
Barbeau (1940) gives dates for Roy as 1801-1806, but DCBO say he had finished his apprenticeship by 1786. He died in 1814.
Haven't figured out if he is a relative of mine or not.
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Apr 12, 2010, 09:26 PM
#5
Re: Need ID on touch marks please
I drew up a rough sketch of the other marks on this same piece. It was plow folded and I was afraid of snapping it. I'm taking all pieces to a jewelers this winter for straightening out. I suspect this piece to be English, but I really don't know.
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Apr 12, 2010, 11:46 PM
#6
Re: Need ID on touch marks please
OK I'm not great with silver marks, but I do know if they don't match exactly, they aren't a match. These are Brit style marks, but I can't find the city mark that matches the heart/cross. The Y is a year mark, and the head is the Geo. III duty mark. The only year mark that I could find that was exactly the same was Edinburgh, but your city mark isn't.
It's possible these are pseudo marks. I know they were common in the U.S. ... Canada maybe. So IW would be the maker, and he dressed up his stuff with a bunch of made up marks. That would be illegal in England but not Canada.
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