Maybe so, maybe not, but those still are not silver marks. Perhaps an admin can move it to the "Mystery Objects" section where someone will recognize what this item-with-two-holes-on-each-side-possibly-to-be-worn is. And perhaps the OP can engage the services of a professional translator a...
The mark to the far left seems to be the same shape as the Italian national mark used from 1934 to 1944, but it is very hard to make it out. Please compare: http://www.925-1000.com/Fitalian_marks_01.html The 800 mark would also be typical of Italian flatware. I think that once an administrator moves...
I would be most concerned about the Chinese characters, as they provide more of an indication of silver content than a makers' or retailers' mark. In the photo provided, the Chinese characters are not clear impressions, which in my mind always raises suspicions. The Chinese mark on the left is the c...
The maker's mark, which is none too clear in the posted photo, appears to be one or two letters of the alphabet. This does not rule out the possibility of a Japanese maker, but it certainly does not offer proof positive of country of origin, either. I would still say Mexico is a strong possibility. ...
I agree with Cheryl, they look like Indian work, probably from the 1920s-30s. My impression is that during the colonial period, Indian silver was often unmarked, perhaps because it was below English sterling standard, even though it might be .800 or .900 silver. Without any marks, the only clues to ...
It would help if the OP would polish the box and post clearer photos, in particular a cropped close-up of the mark. For that matter, if the OP has some provenance linking the box to Malaysia, that might help. A well written post that includes all pertinent information, once uploaded to the site, sho...
Sorry that I have to emend what I wrote above (broke my reading glasses yesterday). You are right, the mark is ginsei "silver-product" or "made of silver," not jungin . There is some debate about whether ginsei marks were used on solid silver objects, but in my experience, ginsei...
Welcome to the Forum. The retailer is Tsuruya Department Store of Kumamoto. Their logo mark is a crane ( tsuru translates to "crane"). According to their homepage (in Japanese) they were founded in 1951. If the link below doesn't work, just Google "Tsuruya Department Store" for a...
Hallmarking is predominantly a European institution. I would not want to categorically state that there is no such thing as an Asian hallmark, but no example of hallmarking in Asia springs to mind. The same could probably be said of American silver. Please refer to the definition of "hallmark&q...
I am rather far afield here, but "before 1860" seems too early for a metric-based 900 mark. WIkipedia states that Italy adopted the metric system in 1861, following the lead of Piedmont (see the section "International Adoption"): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system I am wo...
Welcome to the Forum. The box looks to me like modern handwork that comes from India, or possibly Pakistan, Nepal, or Tibet. The lack of marks may be due to a missing foil or paper label. The matching marks on the top and bottom were probably placed there by the worker who soldered the hinges, so th...
Thank you, Trev, for posting a much clearer image of the marks. I believe the second mark to be the lion found on the Sinhala or lion flag of Sri Lanka. Another version of this mark appears on a tray that is definitely from Sri Lanka, insofar as the tray itself is in the shape of the island of Sri L...
Welcome to the Forum. It is not from China, Japan, or Korea. It looks Middle Eastern to me, or perhaps northern Indian. At first I thought the pictorial mark was the Iraqi national mark (see the World Hallmarks page), but it does not seem to be a match. A close-up photo of the marks would be helpful...