spoon found on my own farm

detectorbishop

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digging at home in an area I feel like I've been over and found this about 8 inches deep. nothing real great, but proves there can always be something else when you think the area is all hunted out.
20211009_190935.jpg
20211009_190907.jpg
 

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Almy

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Yep, amazing. I once found a 3" diameter brass bell about 2" down in a place hunted by me and others countless times before that. How we all missed it I have no idea. Never say it's over, I guess1
 

Red-Coat

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That’s a lovely pattern which has gone largely undocumented.

The spoon is by Holmes, Booth & Haydens, founded in Waterbury, CT in 1853. They were a prominent manufacturer of brass and copper goods who, around 1865, began producing flatware. The “Sterling Silver Plate Co.” was one of their divisional sub-brands, used for electroplate (ie “Sterling” is misleading because the flatware was not sterling silver and, in any case electroplating deposits ‘pure’ silver onto base metal, not sterling silver). Flatware production under that name ceased in 1886 when the division was sold to Rogers & Hamilton.

They seem to have produced no more than a handful of patterns, only one of which can be reliably dated (at 1884) since it was also used by C. Rogers & Bros, W.F. Rogers, and the Hartford Silver Plate Co. Other than that, the patterns are unnamed and Davis and Deibel’s “Silver Plated Flatware Patterns" book simply lists your particular pattern as “Sterling Silver Plate Four”.
 

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detectorbishop

detectorbishop

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wow red-coat. thank you for that information. That is an amazingly informative. I really thought it was a pretty pattern, but unfortunately the spoon is all bent up. Do you have any idea how old it might be?
 

Red-Coat

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wow red-coat. thank you for that information. That is an amazingly informative. I really thought it was a pretty pattern, but unfortunately the spoon is all bent up. Do you have any idea how old it might be?

You're welcome. I gave you as much as is reliably known about possible dates... sometime between c.1865-1886. Other than that, the activities of Holmes, Booth & Haydens' Silver Plate flatware division are poorly documented.
 

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detectorbishop

detectorbishop

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ok, just want to be sure I'm reading correctly, this spoon is from the 1800's?
 

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detectorbishop

detectorbishop

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1935 is my earliest find so far, so that will be a big jump for me
 

Red-Coat

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ok, just want to be sure I'm reading correctly, this spoon is from the 1800's?

Yes. Don't know how to make it any clearer. The company began making flatware (ie cutlery) c.1865 and stopped when the business was sold in 1886.
 

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detectorbishop

detectorbishop

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Yes. Don't know how to make it any clearer. The company began making flatware (ie cutlery) c.1865 and stopped when the business was sold in 1886.
thank you so much for that, just wanted to be sure before I celebrated. you made it plenty clear, lol
 

Cuda74

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That’s a lovely pattern which has gone largely undocumented.

The spoon is by Holmes, Booth & Haydens, founded in Waterbury, CT in 1853. They were a prominent manufacturer of brass and copper goods who, around 1865, began producing flatware. The “Sterling Silver Plate Co.” was one of their divisional sub-brands, used for electroplate (ie “Sterling” is misleading because the flatware was not sterling silver and, in any case electroplating deposits ‘pure’ silver onto base metal, not sterling silver). Flatware production under that name ceased in 1886 when the division was sold to Rogers & Hamilton.

They seem to have produced no more than a handful of patterns, only one of which can be reliably dated (at 1884) since it was also used by C. Rogers & Bros, W.F. Rogers, and the Hartford Silver Plate Co. Other than that, the patterns are unnamed and Davis and Deibel’s “Silver Plated Flatware Patterns" book simply lists your particular pattern as “Sterling Silver Plate Four”.

Great reply Red-Coat!
 

Digger RJ

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ANTIQUARIAN

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That’s a lovely pattern which has gone largely undocumented.

The spoon is by Holmes, Booth & Haydens, founded in Waterbury, CT in 1853. They were a prominent manufacturer of brass and copper goods who, around 1865, began producing flatware. The “Sterling Silver Plate Co.” was one of their divisional sub-brands, used for electroplate (ie “Sterling” is misleading because the flatware was not sterling silver and, in any case electroplating deposits ‘pure’ silver onto base metal, not sterling silver). Flatware production under that name ceased in 1886 when the division was sold to Rogers & Hamilton.

They seem to have produced no more than a handful of patterns, only one of which can be reliably dated (at 1884) since it was also used by C. Rogers & Bros, W.F. Rogers, and the Hartford Silver Plate Co. Other than that, the patterns are unnamed and Davis and Deibel’s “Silver Plated Flatware Patterns" book simply lists your particular pattern as “Sterling Silver Plate Four”.

I've owned a lot of HB & H oil lamp parts over the years and even researched their company history, but I never knew they made cutlery. :icon_scratch:

Thank you for sharing this information Red-Coat, now that I've learned something new, I can go back to bed. :laughing7:
 

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