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Specifically, I think the people who made this punch have misread the numerals "90" and rendered them "GO" instead. Also the WH and chinese letters look quite crude. However, I am far from an expert in this field and so wish to tread carefully before condemning someone's property.

Indeed, that was my reasoning for asking if s/he'd had it for long, and for phrasing "the marks are for" as opposed to "this is by". I wonder if the marks are not fake, but didn't wish to be rude. It's possible that the piece is genuine period but with wrong marks- I hear they ar...

If it's so unreliable it begs the question of how bullion merchants (who work on tiny percentages- .5% to 2% typically) ever manage to make a profit.

This particular type of spoon is made in Norway, but there are many similar types which are made all over Scandinavia. I believe this to be a specifically Norwegian design however. I am reasonably certain on this but I should point out that while I've handled quite a lot of Scandinavian silver there...

Great piece, and wow- what an interesting mark! I can't find it, but if it's English then it's a very unusual makers mark for silver (must be silver- firestain). Not impossible, but it's not in "Treasures of the 20th Century". I also looked in a few other books on general Nouveau and A&...

Good maker too! It's prohibited to discuss value on this forum, but I feel it's my responsibility to tell you that you should probably get a professional valuation for insurance purposes. It's quite a valuable thing, despite the cut handles. Email a picture to Bonhams silver department for a rough i...

It's Scandinavian, probably 17th century Norway. I'll see if I can find the mark, but not a lot to go on there!

Lovely piece anyway.

It's a Georgian beer jug, dated 1741- a lovely piece! Unfortunately someone has cut the handle and inserted insulators so that it can be used for hot liquids, but it is still a very nice thing! If you could get a better image of the central mark I'd be able to find a maker for you. As it is, I can't...

This is what I said and the test is still not 100% proof. What the acid test actually tells you with certainty is that it is not silver and nothing else. You should never trust the acid test for the following reason: Let's assume that the object to be tested is an electroplated object or a silver p...

Hello, You need to be sure to scrape deep enough, but also over a reasonably wide area. Come, come, Qrt.s, surely you can see that JBA is pulling our legs. I'm sure he is only too aware that no one with an iota of appreciation of the silversmith's craft would ever resort to using such philistine me...

You'd be surprised how good those chasers were! Sometimes hallmarks are lost in the chasing, but usually they've been very clever about preserving them nicely. I like the way you're thinking though- you're asking the right questions. If you're convinced yours is original chasing then the very best o...

I feel reasonably sure these are 19th century, wherever they are from. They are certainly not 17th century.

These next marks seem like they might be Polish to me? I have no good reference books on Polish marks. Can anyone else confirm or deny this?

You said the test was unreliable. I disagree, and put forward my reasoning for thinking so. Not sure I see a problem.

Yes, I understand your distinction. I think Paktong falls in to the grey area, as does early Old Sheffield Plate. Having said that, it was actually made illegal to mark OSP in the late 1770's, because the London goldsmiths petitioned parliament claiming that the marking of OSP was intended to deceiv...

The marks are for the maker Wang Hing, who was working in Hong Kong around 1900. Has it been in your possession for long?

I should also note that while the 84 mark is denoting the purity of silver, in Iran this is absolutely NOT a guarantee of fineness! It isn't unheard of for them to mark plate with 84! Naughty!

It's Irianian, made in Shiraz. I don't know Irianian makers marks, but by the quality of the work I would say it's not very old. probably 50 years or less.

I think it's mid 18th century French. Paris 1760's. The top right and bottom left marks are Parisian charge/discharge marks for smallwork. The bottom right appears to be a later control mark, Austrian I think. No idea about the top left mark though! Perhaps someone with a sharper eye will be able to...

The acid tests are not unreliable. What is unreliable is the use/application of the test. A lot of people just slap acid on the piece and when it turns red, they call it silver. However, on a plated item the /surface/ of a piece is silver of course, and so will test positive! One needs to scrape the...

Hello again! Thanks for the PM. Apologies: I meant to say "never seen an ORIGINALLY chased egg nutmeg grater". Call me a pessimist but unless chasing is obviously Georgian I err on the side of considering it to be later. Also, chasing on an object made after the rococo period, unless Irish...