www.925-1000.com

Thank you, Doos, for the link, and I apologize for being dense, I finally got it. Suspending the mystery piece in a beaker of water placed on a platform scale will, of course, lighten its apparent weight by the amount of displaced water, this weight discrepancy being then hydrostatically transmitted...

Thanks, but I still have the same questions. Using a digital platform scale good to +/- one gram, I weighed my six mystery salt spoons at 60 grams. I then weighed a cup filled with water, with and without the mystery spoons. The mass of all three was 350 grams, and that of the cup full of water and ...

I usually do a specific gravity test on all silver and gold objects [that don't have voids]. ... The virtue of this test is that it is non-destructive and only requires a scale with good precision. Besides the precision scale, how does one get an equally precise determination of the silver/gold pie...

Regarding my original inquiry, the plot thickens. As noted before, the "Gothic" pattern as used by a number of early San Francisco makers seems to have at least two major variants, most well distinguished from each another at the drop, one by Vanderslice (perhaps by others as well) having ...

Yes, may well be a praying mantis, that was my original impression, but wasn't sure enough to say. If interested in this stamp, get a Tardy's (author/collector) "International Hallmarks On Silver", available in paperback for a reasonable price, see pp. 212-217. There were three sizes of bi...

Hi! Though I can't identify the insect, the stamp you show below the AC maker's mark appears to be a bigorne, which, if so, should be immediately opposite the Minerva head stamp (they are struck simultaneously). You can search this site for "bigorne", or else read the following thread that...

The below pics are of a 23.4 cm, 57 gram Old English Pattern tablespoon, maker's mark of H&B and curved "V" shaped incised drop: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/HandBtbs1.jpg Does anyone recognize this maker's mark? Perhaps Hart & Brewer (ampersand doesn't mat...

No response on the American Coin Silver forum, so will try here. Below are the scans (apologize for the quality) of a small and delicate teaspoon, 14 cm long and 0.3 troy ounces in weight: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/Dtsps1.jpg The overall shape and the maker's mark (not fo...

Another piece of early San Francisco (but not pre-1860) coin silver, prompting the question yet again, who made what? This spoon is fashioned in what is identified as the Olympic pattern of 1875 by Vanderslice, per the "Silver In The Golden State" text, p.105. However, the spoon bowl shows...

Thank you, Pat. Sorry for the poor pic (scan) quality. The maker's mark is actually "IH" (or perhaps "HI") as best as I can see it. Might this suggest another possibility? Thanks again!

NC

A Scottish Oar Pattern serving spoon, 25.8 cm long and 55 grams in weight, has the following maker's and (pseudo?) hallmark: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/IHspoon2.jpg I don't find this particular right facing lion passant in the Tardy index, the Canadian and Danish marks hav...

Here are the pics (scans, apologize for the suspect quality) of a small and delicate teaspoon, 14 cm long and 0.3 troy ounces in weight: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/Dtsps1.jpg The overall shape and the maker's mark (not found in the Tardy index) have a Continental flavor to...

I recently acquired a rather substantial soup ladle, 13 inches in length, 4.5 inch bowl width, 1 5/8 inch finial width, 8.5 troy ounces, pic (scan) below: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/Ladle8.jpg By the style of the ladle, and the double sakura (cherry blossom) engraving on t...

No takers? Okay, despite the Shreve mark being well centered and the Vanderslice mark more cavalierly struck, according to the "Silver In The Golden State" text, the spoon was most likely made by Vanderslice, in its Waterlilly pattern (not dated in the text, but, according to placement in ...

Well, the mystery continues. But, as far as who made what in terms of early San Francisco silver, here's a perhaps interesting piece. This is a sugar shell, 17.7 cm in length (6 15/16 in.) and 36 gm in weight (1.3 oz. avoir.). It is an olive pattern variant, here's the pic: http://img.photobucket.co...

I acquired a set of five nearly matching serving spoons, two of which are marked "V&CO.", and are the Gothic Pattern by Vanderslice and Company of San Francisco. The three other spoons are very similar to the first two, but the dies are clearly different on close inspection. These othe...

Thank you, Blakstone, for your information. Caught me looking on that one!

SS

I'm still confused as to the lack of a city mark and date mark. Everything I have read indicates that those should be there in order for them to be English. Am I wrong about that? To add a bit to an earlier reply, for a number of years it was permissible to omit the date and city marks (I think) on...

Here are the maker's marks on a 21.8 cm long, 39 gram weight serving spoon in Old English Pattern: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/CGSspoon1.jpg The crescent moon and star lead me to think Brit Colonial Calcutta as the source of this spoon, but I don't have the excellent text b...

Tom, my yellow stickie is not for the pelleted IWG mark for Gilman being in error, but for the addition of the unpelleted mark to that of the script mark for Gethen. Sorry for not being clear. Would indeed be interested as to whether the pelleted mark is indeed for Gilman. Thanks.

SS
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