Word STERLING and an Eagle Only on Bracelet

[kbeuning]

Hi, I am new to the forum, have lurked a bit. I have a silver bracelet with carved amethyst masks. The mark is the word STERLING and a detailed eagle with outstretched wings. I have had no luck figuring this out:




The design suggests Mexican, or a South American country, maybe??

Thank you for your help!!

[admin]

Hi,
Clearly Mexican and a nice one, very labor intensive with about 80 assembled handmade parts, most likely 1940's vintage. Interesting maker's mark, but I have never seen it before.

Regards, Tom

[kbeuning]

To follow up, I received the following from an eBay user when I had the bracelet listed for sale:

"The Eagle mark you see on this piece is called the Quinto Real , was used by the Mex government to officially show the maker had paid One Fifth tax to the Govenment in the Comission of making the piece on the Silver Used , late 1800`s to very early 1900`s they then changed to the eagle number system post 1940 , so the piece pre dates that."

Very good information!!

-Karen B.