Cigarette Case - Suspect Marks?

[babaganoosh]

Hi There,

Going through stuff that was my mom's and came across this cool little cigarette case. After some online searching, it looks like it could be silver, of Russian origin but also after my searching - looks like there are a lot of fakes out there. From what I can see, there is no town mark - which makes me wonder if it is real silver or not...or at least if it is not from the time frame the assayer's mark points it to be from?
I don't have a great camera - so, I'm sorry but below are the best images I could get. Maybe it is not good enough and I apologize if that's the case. At least I figure these photos might make it quite easy to point out it is not real? Thank you for your time, help and thoughts :)

[babaganoosh]

So other things I thought might help if I add -

The marks in the picture - they appear on both sides of the interior in the case. Those are the only marks and they look the same.

The case is fairly small and slim.

Thanks again! :)

[Qrt.S]

Your pictures are really not so good but of what I can see, it looks like Nikolay Alekseyev in Moscow. The assaying mark is from 1899-1908. It is correct that you have marks on both halves. It is silver in the purity of 84 zolotnik meaning 875/1000. However, no guaranties are given regarding the maker due to the dimmy pictures.

[babaganoosh]

Thank you so much!
Yes, I figured the pictures are going to be the breaker in this. I tried, but due to the size of marks and case, and the poor quality photos my camera takes - this is about the best I could do.

I'm curious - is it okay that there is no city mark? I don't know anything about silver marks - but just from the small research I did, I thought a piece had to have a city mark on it?

Thanks again!

[babaganoosh]

You know, I thought the makers marks were an "HT" but now, I see where it could potentially be an A....but man it looks like a T to my eyes.

I've been having a lot of fun reading through these forums, you guys really know your stuff - interesting reads for sure.

[Qrt.S]

Actually there is a kind of a "town mark" included the kokoshnik mark. If you look through a magnifier you most likely will see two Cyrill letters behind the head's neck i.e. ИЛ. That is the initials of the assayer in Moscow Ivan Lebedkin 1898-1914. Read this: http://www.925-1000.com/Frussia_kokoshnik_01.html and the other sites related to Russian hallmarks. However, I'm still not 100% sure regarding the master but if you find the mentioned letters, it should be him.

[babaganoosh]

Thanks a ton! I didn't realize the marks behind the head, could be considered the city marks too.

I tried a magnifier, but I have bad eyes and the mark is sooo small, there is still no way to make it out. I figure I'll pop in a jewelry store and see if they would look at it through their magnifier to tell me what they see.

I really appreciate all your help. Have a great day!

[Qrt.S]

Thanks but It's close to midnight here :-)))