Impressive Antique Menorah stamped 833–is it silver?

[kleinerschmitter]

Hello all,

I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas l!! I found this 833 stamped silver Menorah in an antique shop today and was looking up similar items online, it might be Portugal 833 silver but the only stamp is the 833 mark. I don’t have my acid testing kit, need to get a new one, threw my old one out when I moved to Orlando 6 months ago. What is everyone’s thoughts on this? I paid $63 after tax, it’s pretty hefty at 645 grams, even if not silver I think I’ll get my money back but if silver it’s right at $400 worth of silver. It’s not magnetic. The 2 vessels higher up are on stands and come off and the bottom 8 vessels have removable lids with 2 small circular holes in the lids.

 

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[xr7ator]

Sure looks like a killer silver score to me.

 

[gemee]

WOW. Looks like silver to me. I'd get some silver acid and start filing in several inconspicous places to confirm. SCORE!

 

[burlbark]

645 grams? It sure looks much heavier than that. Definitely a great find. I got 6 ounces of sterling 2 weeks ago for $4 and another 3 ounces the week prior for $3. There is still lots of it floating around.

 

[UnderMiner]

Oh yes, it's silver, 83.3% purity to be exact. That is a Europen standard most commonly used in the Germany, Poland, and surrounding parts . I have seen this silver Judaica before, it's worth a lot more than melt, you can easily sell this menorah for $2,000 to collectors of Judaica, if it's pre-WWII it may be worth even more.

 

[ARC]

Oh yes, it's silver, 83.3% purity to be exact. That is a Europen standard most commonly used in the Germany, Poland, and surrounding parts . I have seen this silver Judaica before, it's worth a lot more than melt, you can easily sell this menorah for $2,000 to collectors of Judaica, if it's pre-WWII it may be worth even more.

Agreed.

 

[kleinerschmitter]

645 grams? It sure looks much heavier than that. Definitely a great find. I got 6 ounces of sterling 2 weeks ago for $4 and another 3 ounces the week prior for $3. There is still lots of it floating around.

The base is fairly thick but the ornate part is thinner, if it were as thick as the base it would probably be a kilo. It also doesn’t fit that well on my scale.

 

[kleinerschmitter]

Oh yes, it's silver, 83.3% purity to be exact. That is a Europen standard most commonly used in the Germany, Poland, and surrounding parts . I have seen this silver Judaica before, it's worth a lot more than melt, you can easily sell this menorah for $2,000 to collectors of Judaica, if it's pre-WWII it may be worth even more.

It will be difficult to tell the exact time period because of the lack of other hallmarks but that’s exciting about the value! When I saw it, I definitely knew it was worth more than I paid for it, it felt like a very quality piece.

 

[tamrock]

Great find. Definitely worth more than scrap.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Strange, 833 is usually a stamp for gold, 20K.

Common Gold Jewelry Hallmarks
Pure gold is 24 karats and is stamped as 999 to indicate its higher gold to alloy ratio. As we move down the scale of gold purity, 20 karat gold is stamped as 833 to represent the 20:24 (or .833) gold to alloy ratio. To simplify the other commonly used gold hallmarks, here is a handy chart of the caratage hallmarks and the gold purity they correspond to:

Decoding Jewelry Hallmarks & What They Tell You About Your Jewelry

Helpful charts of the most commonly used gold, platinum, and silver jewelry hallmarks (or stamps) to help you differentiate the grades of precious metals

www.truefacet.com

But also found this...

Dutch Hallmarks - Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Makers' Marks

Netherlands Hallmarks - Online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Makers' Marks

www.925-1000.com

 

[pepperj]

Great purchase-one gets a good score once in a while.
Here's a blurb on the Portugal silver

Portugal 1887 to date.

From 1640 to 1910, the Kingdom of Portugal was ruled by the monarchs of the Braganza dynasty. The hallmarks of Portugal used throughout the 17th, 18th, and most of the 19th centuries were stylistically similar to those used in France and Germany, during the same time period. In 1887, Portugal overhauled this old (guild) hallmarking system and established a very extensive but orderly series of new hallmarks. After the revolutionary overthrow of the monarchy in 1910 only major hallmark revisions in the years 1937 and 1938, when some of the assaying and hallmarking procedures were simplified. In 1984 the hallmarks went through a major revision.

1887-1984 domestic silver minimum;
1st standard 916
2nd standard 833
3rd standard 800 (non —jewelry, on clocks and watch-cases, eyeglass frames and similar items)
4th standard 750 transitional used 1887- 1903
Silver export standard used 1887-1984; minimum 800 only


1985-1998 domestic silver minimum;
1st standard 925
2nd standard 835
Silver export minimum standards used 1985-1998(hallmarking Convention);
1st standard 925
2nd standard 830
3rd standard 800

1998-present domestic silver minimum;
1st standard 999
2nd standard 925
3rd standard 835
4th standard 830
5th standard 800

Reference World Hallmarks Volume I Europe 19th to 21st Centuries

 

[JamieD]

I can’t tell you when this dates to or confirm where it was made but, just to say, if I were you I wouldn‘t do any destructive testing on it, no matter how inconspicuous, and I’d take my time and get it appraised by experienced professionals.

Good luck, and I hope it turns out to be the serious score it looks to be!

 

[kleinerschmitter]

I can’t tell you when this dates to or confirm where it was made but, just to say, if I were you I wouldn‘t do any destructive testing on it, no matter how inconspicuous, and I’d take my time and get it appraised by experienced professionals.

Good luck, and I hope it turns out to be the serious score it looks to be!

I’m not planning on doing any destructive testing but thank you very much for the advice! If anything I’ll take it to a place that’s got a mass spectrometer. The back plate appears to be hand carved and hammered as well, I wish it had a makers mark so I could get some more info on it.

 

[JimDon5822]

Hello all,

I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas l!! I found this 833 stamped silver Menorah in an antique shop today and was looking up similar items online, it might be Portugal 833 silver but the only stamp is the 833 mark. I don’t have my acid testing kit, need to get a new one, threw my old one out when I moved to Orlando 6 months ago. What is everyone’s thoughts on this? I paid $63 after tax, it’s pretty hefty at 645 grams, even if not silver I think I’ll get my money back but if silver it’s right at $400 worth of silver. It’s not magnetic. The 2 vessels higher up are on stands and come off and the bottom 8 vessels have removable lids with 2 small circular holes in the lids. View attachment 1999126 View attachment 1999127

Wow. Incredible find. Lucky you!

 

[mugsisme]

Hello all,

I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas l!! I found this 833 stamped silver Menorah in an antique shop today and was looking up similar items online, it might be Portugal 833 silver but the only stamp is the 833 mark. I don’t have my acid testing kit, need to get a new one, threw my old one out when I moved to Orlando 6 months ago. What is everyone’s thoughts on this? I paid $63 after tax, it’s pretty hefty at 645 grams, even if not silver I think I’ll get my money back but if silver it’s right at $400 worth of silver. It’s not magnetic. The 2 vessels higher up are on stands and come off and the bottom 8 vessels have removable lids with 2 small circular holes in the lids. View attachment 1999126 View attachment 1999127

Beautiful!
I know a rabbi from Portugal who may have connections to help you date it or get info on it. I'm going to send him this thread.

 

[kleinerschmitter]

Beautiful!
I know a rabbi from Portugal who may have connections to help you date it or get info on it. I'm going to send him this thread.

Awesome, thank you for the help!

 

[Buchsy]

Great score! Agreed that you may get pleasantly surprised when you get it checked out. Looks pre WW2 to me...

 

[Datil_mountain_muse]

Any update on this fantastic piece?
It is beautiful.

 

[tamrock]

Any update on this fantastic piece?
It is beautiful.

Well as I'm doing a bit of research on a piece I just purchased, it appears this was sold back in April from what I'm seeing.

 

[kleinerschmitter]

Well as I'm doing a bit of research on a piece I just purchased, it appears this was sold back in April from what I'm seeing.

Hello everyone, yes, I sold the piece back in April for $850, so maybe some meat left on the bone but I was happy with the sale. Im sorry I haven’t updated in awhile, we have been extremely busy with me finishing my colorectal surgery training. We just bought a house in Dallas where I will be practicing, so if anyone there’s needs a colonoscopy or your hemorrhoids checked…