Was coin always marked coin?

[outwest]

I suppose you've figured out that I am going through all the silver from the family and trying to figure out how old it is and what it is.

I have a set of what I think is coin silver flatwear. I always thought it was plate, but with further research I began to wonder. It is from the mid-1800's as that is when my ancestor (the monogram) lived and also when Beggs and Smith operated in Cincinnati, Ohio (1848-1861).

There is no missing silver anywhere on it and it would certainly have a few chips by now, right? Also, it sounds like sterling when they clink together and seems lighter then it should for the thickness of the metal.

The only marks are Beggs and Smith.
How can I know for sure?



btw: You don't have that mark in your wonderful encyclopedia. Feel free to take this one if you like.
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[Neruda]

American silver was not necessarily marked "coin", although perhaps there were regional tendencies. In the case of your pieces I'm almost 100% certain they are silver.
In 1853 a young Charles G Boerner joined the firm of Messrs. Beggs & Smith. At some point around 1860, Joseph P. Beggs retired and Boerner formed a partnership with Harry R. Smith: see their mark at http://www.925-1000.com/american-mfg7.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; In 1864 Boerner was threatened with declining health, and in search for a rural home. His brother Frederic invited him to Vevay, Ind., and Boerner sold out to Smith.
So your pieces were made before c.1860, at which time electroplated silver was only just begining to enter the market, making it highly unlikely that you have silverplate!
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[outwest]

Thank you so much for your informative reply! How do you people find all this out?

I ,too, now believe they are coin and your post only affirms my feelings on it. I mean, if it looks like silver, smells like silver, feels like silver, doesn't seem to weigh enough for it's size, sounds like silver and has no base metal showing on any speck anywhere it has to be silver, right? So, now I will go through and reevaluate other things, too.

Thank you so much for your time. I will use them this holiday season with renewed appreciation for their beauty.
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[jimhope5]

Coin silver was chiefly marked coin, S, D, Standard, etc toward the middle of the 19th century when sterling was begining to appear to differentiate the two. Sterling always has to be marked sterling; coin was never required to be marked coin or one of the other designations. The "S" stands for standard and the "D" for dollar as the silver dollar was at one time the source of silver for making "coin" silver. jimhope5
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[Smaug]

Coin silver was initally created from coins ergo the name, it was marked "Coin" when Sheet silver became available in the 1810 to 1820's to let customers know that the sheet silver caontained the same purity as coin...
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