What is "Solid Cassilla Silver" ?

[trhunter7777]

Hello everyone

Got a spoon yesterday at a thrift store marked "Solid Cassilla Silver". I havn't found anything after a quick google search, anyone familiar with the term? My first thought was it was no value like nickel silver but has a good feel and is monogramed.

 

[Red-Coat]

In the mid to late 1800s a number of tarnish-resistant alloys imitating silver but with no silver content began appearing. Usually alloys of copper, zinc, and nickel plus sometimes tin. Their public appeal was enhanced by giving them various names such as German Silver, New Silver and Nickel silver or more exotic names like Maillechort, Argentan, Albata and Alpacca/Alpaca. The term ‘Cassilla silver’ is likely in that same territory, but not well-documented.

I have seen some very unattractive utilitarian cutlery marked as ‘Solid Cassilla Silver’ produced by the Thomas Manufacturing Company founded in Springfield, Ohio in 1874 and then operating out of Dayton, Ohio from 1915. Also some fancier pieces from undetermined makers. I suspect ‘Cassilla’ was a short-lived invented name for a silver imitation from a small regional producer. Maybe even the Thomas company themselves, who mainly produced farm tools, plus things like pumps, steam engines and bicycles but could well have been a supplier of cast metal to other businesses.

These kinds of alloys could be silver-plated but won’t otherwise have any silver content and, even if plated, it will be thin electroplate.

 

[Red-Coat]

PS: If you show us the spoon and any marks it has, we might be able to identify a maker.

 

[tamrock]

Seems there's a lot creative names for this particular alloy flatware. As red-coat says an image might reveal more about what it is. I got curious about a piece marked Nevada Silver I found one time and learned what it really was.

Alpaca or Alpacca Silver
Aluminum Silver
Austrian Silver
Brazil or Brazilian Silver
Bristol Silver
Burmaroid Silver
England Silver
German Silver
Indian Silver
Japanese Silver
Laxey Silver
Mexican Silver
Nevada Silver
Nickel Silver
Paktong
Pearl Silver
Potosi Silver
Solid G Silver (aka German Silver)
Sonora Silver
Tyrol Silver
Venetian Silver
Yukon Silver

 

[Red-Coat]

Good list tamrock... and even then not an exhaustive list. You could add in Argentine Silver, Bengal Silver, Tibetan Silver and a bunch of others. One particularly cynical one to watch out for is the "US Sterling Co." stamp on flatware, which has no relationship to the Sterling standard and contains no silver.

 

[Riverwalker83]

Wanted to post these for prosperity. They popped up for sale. On first look you might think they were coin silver with a slightly odd tone. They look a bit off, but close enough to peak interest. This is the first time I’ve seen the “Cassilla” mark. Found this thread and wanted to add some photos for the record.

 

[Riverwalker83]

I found this great advertisement which I’ll also add to the record. This is the only place I found a discussion of the material. May as well add some supporting evidence. Once this ad disappears from eBay it is likely no one will ever see one again. There were quite a few more pages showing examples of the beaded pattern. I’m just posting the “bio” and photos of the tipped pattern that I found for sale. This advertisement must have been part of a larger catalog since the first page has the page #113 at the bottom. Sadly we don’t know the companies name or location that’s offering the Cassilla flatware. The seller claims the ad is from the year 1900. That sounds a bit late but I’ll assume he has the info correct. Edit: catalog is from 1909 it looks like

 

[Red-Coat]

I found this great advertisement which I’ll also add to the record. This is the only place I found a discussion of the material. May as well add some supporting evidence. Once this ad disappears from eBay it is likely no one will ever see one again. There were quite a few more pages showing examples of the beaded pattern. I’m just posting the “bio” and photos of the tipped pattern that I found for sale. This advertisement must have been part of a larger catalog since the first page has the page #113 at the bottom. Sadly we don’t know the companies name or location that’s offering the Cassilla flatware. The seller claims the ad is from the year 1900. That sounds a bit late but I’ll assume he has the info correct.

Thanks for that information. The (undated) pages are catalogue advertisements from the Thomas Manufacturing Company who I referenced above in post #2

!’m also sure that the seller’s claimed date of 1900 is not correct, but I believe it to be from after 1915, at which time their address changed to 2653 Rome Street, Dayton, Ohio.

 

[Riverwalker83]

Thanks for that information. The (undated) pages are catalogue advertisements from the Thomas Manufacturing Company who I referenced above in post #2

!’m also sure that the seller’s claimed date of 1900 is not correct, but I believe it to be from after 1915, at which time their address changed to 2653 Rome Street, Dayton, Ohio.

You are correct. I wrote to the seller to ask. Thomas Manufacturing Co. of Dayton Ohio. The catalog is from 1909 it turns out. The seller has some other sections of the same catalog listed. Funny enough they have pocket knives for sale that feature “German silver”. I’m guessing the pocket knives may not have been entirely made in house. They may have been but I wouldn’t be surprised if some parts were purchased from other manufacturers. I just thought it was interesting to see both Cassilla and German silver mentioned just pages apart.