www.925-1000.com

Impossible to speculate. Could well be plate. In Iran marks mean little or nothing- they are not a guarantee of purity, and are often totally deceptive.

You can actually see the silver flaking away from the base metal. Definitely plate.

I cannot find the mark, but bow to JLDoggett's superior knowledge. This sort of "long" fiddle pattern is usually American or Canadian in my experience. They are copied from Irish fiddle pattern of the early 19th century, but more pronounced. The single "sideways" initial is also ...

The Z is pseudo-Zurich, but Zurich never used a round punch to my knowledge. I don't claim to have any experience in tracking Hanau makers from their pseudomarks, and so don't know who it is, but it might be a starting point for your research if you are keen to find a maker.

I agree. This is a typical late 19th century reproduction of a 17th century piece.

A question of taste. Personally I'd polish them, but some people like the black look!

I don't doubt that this is an original 18th century cup, but I think both the decoration and probably the foot have been added. Most likely circa 1880 judging by the style. As far as origin is concerned, could be English, Dutch or German later decoration. In order to accomadate such deep chasing it ...

Hi there! I'm not sure what you mean when you say the cartouches are different shapes. Do you mean the shape of the punches?

I should clarify- this matters because if a piece of French .950 silver (for example) was submitted for re-assay as Britannia silver it would fail the assay. It's actually sub-standard and could only be legally assayed Sterling, not Britannia.

I'm nitpicking, but Britannia is not 950, it's actually 958.4.

I imagine they were testing only for Sterling silver, and when the acid did not reach the desired colour, called it a failed test. Where they by any chance interested in buying the item?! Legally in the UK, silver has to be 92.5% pure (sterling), or it is actually illegal to sell it under the term &...

Looks more Arabic than hebrew to me, but I'm no expert. Could we see a picture of the whole box?

Excellent correction. You're absolutely correct. Didn't see the faint impression of the pellet above from the original picture, but in your enlargement it is quite clear.

An interesting question! Practice in England in general was, in my understanding, pretty similar to how you describe things in the Netherlands. The date letter was included to be certain of which assay master was responsible for marking the piece in question, in case it was found to be fraudulent an...

Correct. I believe the maker to be Joseph Mumford. John Montgomery has a very similar punch, but less pronounced Serifs, so I think Mumford is a closer bet.

Yes- common pattern and have seen these marks before. Sheffield made, most likely circa 1860's. It's silver on Nickel, or was originally. Might be the colour cast but it looks like the silver is all but gone.

Yes, this is very typical mid Victorian gothic influenced chasing- totally original. With regard to the makers mark, the misaligned placement in relation to the hallmarks is nothing unusual. It looks like it has been done in sympathy with the chasing- aligning them perfectly would have stamped over ...

Hi there. This decoration around the surface is actually flat chasing, not engraving, and is certainly done by hand. Effectively, it is worked from the front while the salver is embedded in pitch, with a very small chisel to get the deep decoration, and no metal is taken away. Sometimes this techniq...

Very interesting! Honestly, it does look quite authentic but I know the fakers are very proficient, and the photo is a bit small. I did actually wonder if it was a genuine piece, just with wrong marks, a la Mexican (Spanish) Colonial silver. So it's a recognised and acceptable thing to have the 90 m...

Exactly- those are the ones I was referring to.