www.925-1000.com

As I said, it's an old and widely spread symbol, on that we agree! But I don't agree that the crown, orb and sceptre are unique to Montenegro, look at the Russian coat of arms for instance (although the eagle heads also have crowns there), or the old Austrian coat of arms. If I should be really ...

With only the two-headed eagle and those marks, I’m sorry to say that I think it will be almost impossible to establish the country of origin or date it properly. The two-headed eagle is an old and widely spread symbol usually associated with the Byzantine Empire that has been used in large parts of ...

Almost right, but it's a bit more complicated because of the way Swedac write things. They start with the last name, (Svensson Anders instead of Anders Svensson, for instance) which is fine when it is just a single name, but in cases like this, it gets a bit mixed up.

The founder of this company ...

I understand that Hose is exited, but I'm afraid I have to disagree. It is true that different cities had their own date marks prior to 1759, but the cat’s paw (kattfoten) was implemented in 1754, and the only time, as I see it, you would find both the cat’s paw and a local date mark is between ...

I agree with Bahner, not Swedish but imported to Sweden. The explanation of the missing S is that it must have been imported before 1913 when the S was implemented. Had it been Swedish, it would have a full set of marks like you can see on the Swedish page here. Also, if it had been imported after ...

The outside ones I call "olive tongs".
Others will argue for sugsr tongs.

Pat.

These are sugar tongs. Nowadays, not many people use sugar cubes in their coffee even in Scandinavia, so perhaps they are more used for olives now, but originally they were intended for sugar cubes. I don’t know if it ...

Your ring was made by Reino O. Saastamoinen in Helsinki. The mark was registered between 1950 and 2001. I don't know much about him, but I've seen a couple of pieces by him in the same style as your ring, so I guess that it is typical for him.

Your beaker was made in Sweden, in Gothenburg, by the company CA KjernÃ¥s, but, unfortunately, it’s not silver. NS stands for nickel silver, which is also silver plated. 216 is most likely a pattern number. I’m not sure when the company was founded, but at least before 1905, and it was active until ...

I might add that I/O is regular silver coating. I agree that the star is not a WMF mark. If it had been, it could cause some confusion, since O is the WMF marking for extra thick coating.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think that the mark on your piece was first used in 1910.

Signed GAB, catfoot, "S" for Sweden, St Erik for Stokholm D8 for 1930


On object hallmarked after 1913, you find the letter S in addition to the "cat's paw", but it does not stand for Sweden (which instead the three crowns in the cat's paw does), but for silver. Likewise, platinum objects after ...

I'm pretty sure this is Norwegian. I have no inormation on Solmund Freng, but it sounds very much like a Norwegian name, and the marks also look Norwegian. Hopefully someone else knows more.

A bit OT, but as a Swede, I just have to add that the correct English name for this people is Sami. The Sami is an indigenous people in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, and calling a Sami a Lapp is like calling a Native American an Indian.

You can read more about the CCM and the participating countries here: http://www.hallmarkingconvention.org/pdf/Hallmarking%20Brochure.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The CCM was first used in 1975, but more countries have joined later. I'm sure you can rule a few out if you know ...

I have a Polish ring, assayed in Warsaw with what I assume is a maker's mark PW in an oval frame. The ring has a large silver ball fastened with claws and looks like it was made in the 60s or 70s. I hope that someone can help me identify this maker.

Kupittaan Kulta Oy (Oy means Co) in Turku has indeed an anvil mark, and they used this mark between 1945 and 1997, so N8 could very well be a correct date mark.

Kultakeskus Oy used this symbol from 1977. In 1961, it was registered to Hopeakeskus Oy (1926-1977). I'm sure it's the same company with a different name. Apparently, they upgraded from "Silver centre" (Hopeakeskus) to "Gold centre" (Kultakeskus)!

Thank you for your input, Bahner. To clarify, German silver is not always hallmarked with the crescent moon and the crown. It is often just marked with the fineness and S for "silber" (not the maker).

It's definitely not made in Sweden, then it would have all the Swedish marks. If it was from Norway or Denmark it would have a makers’ mark. Besides, it ought to have been 830 instead of 835. My guess is Germany.

I can't tell you anything about the maker. There isn't much litterature on silver plate, and it's almost always impossible to identify a maker if they didn't make silver items as well. But I can tell you that you have what we in Sweden call a "tea spinder" (tespindel). Even if it only has three legs ...

Thank you so much for your input. You're probably right. I've had my thoughts in that direction, but due to lacking knowledge of Turkish (and all the engines in silver coloured Saab 900 I get when I google) I haven't been able to confirm it or to identify Mr Engin.