🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Hallmarked sterling pin from Dublin

[tamrock]

I picked this pin from a thrift store and have a couple of questions. The thing I can determine is a couple of the silver hallmarks tell me it's from Dublin, Ireland. What I don't know is the date mark, which is a K inside a cut corner square border. The chart I access ends in the 1920s and I'm fairly sure it was made much later than that decade. The other is the makers initials, which appear to be RJH inside a rectangle border. Also it has a green and translucent round stone mounted, which some might lable as being moss agate. I'm wondering if that might be a particular mineral specimen found native to Ireland? Another thing about it is, it has a series of the repeating letters of SM on the back. Also who does this little Viking looking warrior figure depict? I payed over $8.00 for it, because I found it rather interesting and would just like to know more about it.... Thanks for any replies

 

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[Red-Coat]

Can't tell you much about it @tamrock. Modern silver isn't really my thing. That style of 'K' is the Dublin date letter for 1996.

 

[tamrock]

Can't tell you much about it @tamrock. Modern silver isn't really my thing. That style of 'K' is the Dublin date letter for 1996.

Thanks for having a look RC. I didn't really think it was made that recent, but the part of when it was made is now solved.

 

[TORRERO]

A Google search for silver Hallmarks will probably turn up some more information, looking at it I find it hard to believe its 1996, I'm thinking that most silver made in the last 100 years would have some sort of silver stamp like 925 or Ster. or something instead of just hallmarks.

 

[tamrock]

A Google search for silver Hallmarks will probably turn up some more information, looking at it I find it hard to believe its 1996, I'm thinking that most silver made in the last 100 years would have some sort of silver stamp like 925 or Ster. or something instead of just hallmarks.

They're still going strong on marking silver with all the proper system hallmarks in the British Isles, from my knowledge. I once had some cufflinks that were marked with a year 2000 millennial date mark.

 

[Red-Coat]

A Google search for silver Hallmarks will probably turn up some more information, looking at it I find it hard to believe its 1996, I'm thinking that most silver made in the last 100 years would have some sort of silver stamp like 925 or Ster. or something instead of just hallmarks.

Sorry, but this is not correct.

Irish hallmarks are strictly regulated and based on the system used in Britain. Date letter fonts and formatting change with each cycle so that they cannot be misinterpreted. The capital 'K', serifed and italicised in a square cartouche with chamfered corners is unique to 1996.

Neither Britain nor Ireland traditionally used the word 'sterling', nor the numeric indication '925' as part of their compulsory hallmark sets. Britain used the lion passant to indicate sterling, but adopted '925' marking in 1999 (with the lion passant becoming optional); Ireland used a crowned harp for sterling together with Hibernia, seated for its only assay office in Dublin, but dropped the harp in 2002 in favour of a '925' mark. The first use of '925' with the 'K' letter at the Dublin assay office therefore came round in 2021.