www.925-1000.com

Hi Aguest, Thanks very much indeed for that suggestion. I have a Travancore photo frame in my private collection made up of their very small coins and so I can see where you are coming from. However, I think the language is Jawi. Also, a friend of mine, a renown Indian silver expert, has seen and ha...

Hi AG2012,

That's very interesting indeed, most of which was new to me.

Thanks for everyone's help on this,

Silverk.

Thanks for the link and I've read the thread now. So, this leads me to a few more questions, if you are happy to answer them!: 1) Is the Kubachi art factory a mass production factory, or a low-production, higher quality artel? 2) Does this piece come from Moscow or Dagestan? (I would have thought Mo...

..and it was all going so well, at least I thought it was! However, I'd much rather have no attribution than an incorrect one.

Maybe there's further inspiration out there....

Thanks anyway.

Silverk.

Excellent. Thanks to you both for your help. I realized my Russian/Soviet error as soon as I had submitted the question...

Logically, then, would it be right to say that the '2' represents 1962 and that the number increases with each year?

Regards,

Silverk.

Hi Forum, I think this silver bowl is Malaysian c1900, but the script doesn't seem similar to the usual Jawi script for Kelantan. I can't find any other marks indicating the maker. Can anybody advise a) where it's from if not Malaysia and b) what the script reads? As always, your help is very welcom...

That's splendid! Many thanks to you both for your responses and for your pictures. To me Andrej Aleksandrov looks the closer of the two. With regards to the assay mark, given the teaser of an 'A' in the top right hand corner would I be right in saying that the assayer was Anatoly Apollonovich Artsyb...

Dear forum, I have another difficult one (at least for me) today, namely this vodka shot cup. Unfortunately, the assay mark was so poorly stamped it is unreadable, though I can just see the top of what I think is an 'A' on the top right, giving a clue to the assayer's name. The maker, from Moscow, i...

Hello forum, I have this modern Russian jug made after 1958. I would be grateful if a member of the forum could give me any information about the maker and their dates. The marks seem to be: 1) KXK2 to the base 2) M, hammer & sickle in the star, 875 3) What might be an 'M' to the inside of the h...

I would be grateful if someone could identify the maker of these skewers. I can see they were assayed in Paris pre 1818 (c1815, I think), and are of 1st quality. However, there is a third mark on the far left that I can't identify which, I suppose, may be a maker's mark. As always, any help is welco...

Hi all,

That's absolutely clear now, thanks. The examples set against the dates are particularly useful and clear. A superb way of presenting the information.

Regards,

Silverk.

Gents,

Thanks QRT.s for the date. 1971 it is, then and Trev was right.

But I'm confused about the '3'. Is this for Tallin or Dagestan?

Regards,

Silverk.

Thanks for the links, Trev. I didn't realize the other mark was date-related. If this is 1971 and the engraving is space-related, then this wasn't a good year for the Soviet space programme (the crew was killed in Salyut 1), and it's rather close to America's success in 1969. 1961 was a rather bette...

Hi, Could anybody advise who the maker was of this CCCP shot cup and confirm where, and approximately when, it was assayed? Given the hammer and sickle inside a 5-pointed star, this must have been assayed post May 1958 and with the atomic or space orbit pattern, I would hazard a guess that it was ma...

Hi Aleks,

This is a great response, thank you. Very clear and informative and is exactly what I was looking for.

All the best,

Silverk.

I have this Russian teacup holder depicting Moscow University's tower. The base is marked and I think part of it says nickel. I'm not sure if the piece is silver plated, although it certainly looks that way in the flesh. I'm hoping that someone on the forum can decipher the full meaning of the marks...

Hi AG2012,

Of course it is - a miss on my part. Can you explain why it has the sterling stamp? When imported into America, do they assay it and stamp the sterling mark?

Regards,

Silverk.

A friend of mine has asked me whether I could identify where the attached piece was made since, though bought in America and stamped Sterling, doesn't appear to be American in style. The marks looked Hanau to me, so it didn't take long on this excellent site to find them under the Hanau section. Unf...

Dear Traintime, Actually, in this case, the spoon doesn't belong to me, thank goodness, but I wanted to test my thoughts that the marks were fake. Given Peter's question of me, I did find what I thought was a genuine assay mark, but I guess it must have been unrelated damage. Have a great Christmas!...

Dear Peter,

Much as I had thought, thanks. There are so many fakes on this type of Dutch spoon, it's hard to have any confidence in any of them.

Regards,

Silverk.