The Best Picture of Mystery Hallmarks You Will See All Day.

[batcap]

I thought it was going to be a bum weekend, but then this turned up. I got it for $20, the dealer marked it down from $24 just because I was looking at it. I'm confident it is either sterling or coin silver, though it looks like it was cleaned with a Brillo pad. Still, can't beat it at 219 grams.

This is what I see in the pics: The first and last marks are the same, but what is it; a Fleur-de-lis, the letter W, a sheaf of wheat? I THINK the 2nd is a rampant lion, just because I want it to be. The 3rd mark looks like a head facing left and the next a date code - letter "g"?

I know they're pretty rough, but I'd rather offer this as an antique than scrap it.

I set the camera (old 3 megapixel fujifilm) on macro, moved in close and set the camera timer to avoid shaking it. Then I moved various lights as I took the pictures to try to pick up any traces of shadows. Can you tell me who the maker is, what year, what city or country maybe? Thanks for any help!

[Montana Jim]

Here is what I see... no idea on country of origin or stamps.



If you have time, here is a good place to start your search... http://www.925-1000.com/index.html

Do you think it's solid or plated silver? The edge work looks crude... or maybe it's the picture.

[CRUSADER]

Its not British, but looks US

[batcap]

Here is what I see... no idea on country of origin or stamps.




If you have time, here is a good place to start your search... http://www.925-1000.com/index.html

Do you think it's solid or plated silver? The edge work looks crude... or maybe it's the picture.

Damn . . . I hit it three times with acid and it came up as silver. On the 5th bath in the same spot the acid stopped turning red. It's just heavily plated. I've seen lots of fake "sterling" and 925 marks, but now I have to worry about old hallmarks? Geez.

It is crudely finished. The appearance of craters in some of the pics are bubbles from casting. Well, it was only $20. Maybe I can get that back selling it as a period counterfeit. Or not, depending on what the hallmarks say. I'm going to look up plated hallmarks.

[Montana Jim]

No worries! Just because it's plated doesn't mean it's not worth the 20 bucks... it also helps narrow the search while researching the marks.

[Mackaydon]

Could the end marks be crowns?

[batcap]

925-1000.com shows an "I. & I. Waterhouse" that sometimes used two Fleur-de-lis. They were circa 1830's Sheffield, England. That kind of makes weird sense if you think the symbol looks like a W.
Still, other silver plate manufacturers didn't use a duty stamp or a date code so I think it was deliberately misleading.

At this point I was going to make a joke about wishing whoever stamped it was dead, which is supposed to be funny because it appears to be 170 years old. I couldn't quite figure out how to say it without someone thinking I was serious.

Oh well, I'm marking solved.