W.P. JONES N.S. MINE mark on silver spoon

[sspencer]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... d8590b9e88
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... dbb0edb225

I found this spoon today, marked W.P. JONES N.S. MINE

I read online that W.P. Jones was a mid-19th century silversmith who partnered with one of the Towles to form Towle & Jones (eventually, the current day Towle silver company). Jones left the partnership early in the company's history and produced silver under his own name in the Newburyport Massachusetts area. I've found spoons made by him listed online, but they are marked either W.P. JONES COIN or W.P. JONES STERLING. I haven't been able to figure out what N.S. Mine refers to. I found a reference to a Lake Copper Mining Co. Ltd. Nova Scotia that used the term N.S. Mine and described the use of argentiferous galeana, which I believe is an ore that has silver content. Has anyone ever heard of a silversmith marking where their silver came from? Any other ideas of what that mark might mean?

[sspencer]

I see that the compressed photos I uploaded aren't very clear. Here are links to uncompressed photos:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... d8590b9e88

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... dbb0edb225

[sspencer]

Sorry...new to this...these are the larger photos:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... db2974be23

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 5b0b6785c3