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I purchased a set of eight American Coin Silver serving spoons today. There were some unknown marks, please help if you can. T RICHARDS HILLIARD RAWLS Thanks so much in advance! T. Richards -- Thomas Richards Rawls -- Benjamin Rawls, watchmaker and silversmith, Columbia SC c 1815-1850 Hillard -- as...

Thank you! Is it me, or is it a little ironic, though, that he retailed silver items made from melted down silver coins that he minted? LOL! Also, can I safely assume that these are solid coin silver? In this period coins were rarely being melted down. The term "Coin" was simply advertisi...

He was a successful watchmaker and jeweler in Philadelphia. He had a brief partnership with Arnedee Spadone in 1851, but mainly worked on his own. He was appointed as Chief Coiner on 27 May 1861 and resigned on 30 November 1863 after being appointed Recorder of Deeds (a much more lucrative post). It...

Thank you for the reply. This is just for collecting personally. I don't have a big budget, so starting small would be good. Makers like Revere and Myers would most likely be out of the question, unless I find a super good price, which is highly unlikely. What would be a good beginner's book to buy...

You're good then.

Yes, they are legit, as you say, and very common. Information on the firm can be found on my site under John Farrington.

I hope you didn't pay too much for any of these.

In a word, No. What do you mean by famous? Historically? Artistically? Monetarily? Aside from the obvious big boys at the top, every collector or dealer will have a different list, based on their taste or marketplace. Are you trying to assemble a personal collection? Buying for inventory? In either ...

Yes and yes. They also produced wholesale goods for scores of retailers as far west as Indiana. Pieces would sometimes be marked as yours, but more often [star] [eagle] [P] (in no particular order), then countermarked by the seller.

The wholesale firm of Johnson & Godley. They supplied common table silver to retail jewelers and the like, mostly in the Albany area.

The script name is actually Jenny

There are no AA appropriate names listed in Fennimore's Flights of Fancy nor an AA in the unknown section. Armstrong did retail bird-back spoons, but those known are marked with his surname in caps and countermarked IWG by the wholesale maker, John W. Gethen. I know of no attributed AA mark.

Okay, sorry. Let's try this:

I might know a little bit about American silver, but I know cold beans about crests thereupon. This is on a fiddle thread platter spoon by Thomas Charles Fletcher c 1830. Given the joined shields and form, I'm thinking a wedding gift? Any ideas on its reality or meaning? https://www.americansilversm...

As stated, George Wilhelm Marquardt was a retail jeweler in Iowa City and is so listed in census records and retail directories. There is little likelihood that he manufactured any goods, though he may have modified items to order in a small way. The spoons shown would have been purchased as marked ...

If it is N•C, then you could try Nathaniel Coleman. His was a silversmith based in Burlington, New Jersey, from around 1790 through to the mid 1830s, and his mark was very similar to the one on your spoons. There are some examples of his marks on this Roots Web reference to Nathaniel Coleman: http:...

"Wilmot" was the retailer of the piece, not the manufacturer. There were numerous of that name working as jewelers and fancy goods merchants along the eastern seaboard at the turn of the 19th century and in to the 20th. Given the lettering of both marks, I would say the 1920s was likely.

Possibly Charles H. Miller of Wallingford CT, who worked as a jeweler and engraver c 1880.

Pictures of full spoon, both sides, please

mid 19th century by form. Canadian would be likely

Common wholesale marks of Hall, Hewson & Brower, Albany c 1850. "Concord" was likely some owner's family name.