Help with old USMC Crucifix

[Silver Surfer]

Hey folks....

I found this old USMC cross a few weeks back, took a tremendous amount of work to get it looking like it does.
Found about a 1 1/2 ft down in black lake muck, it was encrusted with so much black I didnt know it was a cross... Chain was not found with it, but in same area hunted. It is marked "Italy".. Doubt they were together when lost..

My question is, when the heck did they switch from marking silver jewelry from "Sterling" to ".925"?
Only thing I find on the web says 1906, but I am quite sure they stamped "Sterling" well into the 40's?

Going to sell it rather than melt it, and want as much authenticating info as is possible. I feel comfortable calling it an "antique", but wish I had a better handle on a possible year range..

Hope the pic's help. I imagine it hanging around a WWII vet's neck, and the area hunted used to be a playground for military folks during WWII and even back to WWI..

Thanks for any help...

 

[ivan salis]

well very likely the fellow that owed it was catholic and of irish or scottish descent ( its a celtic cross "knots" type design * highly popular with catholic irish and scots ) but other folks do like the design as well

sterling and 925 are used interchangibly -- as they both mean exactly the same thing -- 925 per 1000 parts pure silver for a item to be sterlng it must be of this standard * 925 / 1000

italy has long been known for making jewelry both silver and gold -- since italy was a enemy during WW2 * highly doubtful it was made for the US marine corps during WW2 time frame era --post WW2 is more likely -- celtic designed type jewelry religious items were highly popular in the 1950's - 60's ( korean war / vietnam type time frame era)

very nice find.

 

[Silver Surfer]

Thanks Ivan, like I said, the chain was not found with, or even close to where the chain was found... Same general area, but about 200 ft apart... Goes nicely with the cross though.
So, are you saying that they still stamp stuff "Sterling"? From what I have found, stamping .925 items sterling stopped at least 30 yrs ago.. I have even found info about the "dot" being done away with as a standard in the late 70's, going to just "925"... Hard to find info on that though... Maybe if I examine the makers mark better, it may give a clue as to what time period it was made...

 

[Silver Surfer]

Partially found what I was looking for... There are several of these, exactly the same, on ebay... But they are selling as "new"... I have written to them asking if marked .925 or Sterling.. We'll see what they say.. Selling for $50 up to $70... Better than melt for sure, but casts doubts that it is really old.. Might be just a few years old. I'll let you know what they write back..