Hello i need a little help with the hallmark on this spoon. I realise there isn't much to work with but would just like some help clarifying a few things.
From looking at this website i think it is a valid silver hallmark but it looks a little strange could someone please confirm it is indeed the correct format to be a silver hallmark. The things that appear strange to me are the number of marks and the order they are in also the clearest mark is the crown which i assume is for Sheffield but it appears to be the wrong way round?
Thanks in advance :)
Beach spoon.
Re: Beach spoon.
Hi,
Welcome to the Forum.
It's, or was once was, silver plated. From right to left, firstly you have the remains on the British Registry Mark, see: http://www.925-1000.com/registry.html,
secondly a crown containing the letters 'EP' for Electro Plated, the third and fourth marks may be ones of the many used by Joseph Gilbert of Birmingham, see: http://www.925-1000.com/silverplate_G.html, and the last two being 'a1', a popular indicator used by platers to suggest their best quality.
The fact that the marks contain a crown shows that the spoon was made before 1896, when the use of a crown on plated wares was outlawed. The last issue date of the Registry symbol was 1883, but that only indicates the design and not the date of manufacture.
Trev.
Welcome to the Forum.
It's, or was once was, silver plated. From right to left, firstly you have the remains on the British Registry Mark, see: http://www.925-1000.com/registry.html,
secondly a crown containing the letters 'EP' for Electro Plated, the third and fourth marks may be ones of the many used by Joseph Gilbert of Birmingham, see: http://www.925-1000.com/silverplate_G.html, and the last two being 'a1', a popular indicator used by platers to suggest their best quality.
The fact that the marks contain a crown shows that the spoon was made before 1896, when the use of a crown on plated wares was outlawed. The last issue date of the Registry symbol was 1883, but that only indicates the design and not the date of manufacture.
Trev.
Re: Beach spoon.
Thanks for the quick reply trev and you gave me more detail than i thought would be possible.