'MURICA! Ok, I had to. Just chiming in to congratulate the finder and all the researchers here. Great read.
Plated.. LOL! (Did we even have the technology to make plated item in 1802?)
LOL.. He seems to have left the buildingAmazing find, congrats Peaches! Beautiful!
Oh, and someone needs to stop by and have a bite (you know who you are)...
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Is the finder willing to give us the name of the County it was found in ? It may give clues as to the "H" owners name? Hopkins & Hess come to mind when thinking of Maryland.
Note that the quadrants of the hallmark have been reversed from those of the coat of arms:
It seems that each piece of information posted here is leading in only one direction... and that is to a VERY important early American piece of silver. WoW!I mentioned this in a post on this thread a week ago, but its such a cool piece of history that I wanted to mention it again for the people just seeing this.
When researching Andrew Ellicott Warner, I found some great information on the finagrave site Andrew Ellicott Warner (1786 - 1870) - Find A Grave Memorial
What was most interesting to me was that Andrew and his brother Thomas served as captains in the 39th Regiment of the Maryland Militia during the War of 1812 and fought in the defense of Baltimore in 1814 at North Point and Fort McHenry. The defense of Fort McHenry was the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem "The Star Spangled Banner" after he witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. The Star Spangled Banner flag is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington DC in a very cool exhibit (I've seen it a couple times).
Here is the flag in 1873 and if you haven't seen it yet, the size of it is incredible.
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What's amazing to me is that Andrew Warner fought under this very flag and its these bits of history that really get me going in this hobby. This is a well deserved banner for a piece of silver by an early American Silversmith and a man that was present at and participated in some pivotal moments in American history.
LOL.. He seems to have left the building