9" Silver Plate with Mexico City, ZigZag, and JR Mark

[oldplates925]

Hi, Can anybody identify the maker and age of this plate? It is 9" and weighs 11 ounces. The "M" mark I think is Mexico City and the zigzag line was used to assay the silver. Should there be an "eagle" mark? Thanks for any help you have.

[Aguest]

The "Federal Eagle" hallmark started around 1948, and before that silver from Mexico was marked in a few ways, and you see words like TAXCO and MEXICO and purity numbers like 925 and 980, but your piece has hallmarks which seem to be "Colonial Spanish Hallmarks" from when Mexico had a different hallmarking system due to the influence of Spain which had a great influence on Mexico silver.

You would expect to see the "Circle Over M" hallmark, and also the "zig-zag mark" which was for the assay master to test a thin strip of silver for the silver purity, but where is the Assay Master's Hallmark? Usually, wouldn't there be an Assay Master's Hallmark which would finalize the assay process and put a kind of "stamp of approval" on the silver item?

If you search the plate, every little bit of the plate, do you see any other marks or words or names?

[oldplates925]

Thanks for the info. There are no other marks on the plate front or back. Would it be highly unusual for the other "mark to be missing?

[Aguest]

The "M" would be the town mark for Mexico, and the "zig-zag" line would be for the Assay Master to test the silver, and then there should be two sets of marks, the "Maker's Mark" and the "Assay Master's Mark" . I don't have enough experience here to say if the "J.R." is the Maker's Mark or the Assay Master's Mark . The Assay Masters have their last names almost always spelled out, so I am inclined to think that "J.R." is the Maker's Mark . I wonder if this plate was produced at some point between 1900 and 1948, and then the hallmarks were made to be similar to the older "Spanish Colonial" hallmarks, kind of just to make it look like the "older style" of hallmarks . The plate does look machine-made, but the general style looks more like 19th century, so maybe this is a 20th century Mexico plate which is imitating the older style.

But again, there are experts here with much more experience with silver from "Mexico" and the general category of "Spanish Colonial Silver."

[oldplates925]

A newer plate in an old style makes sense since it is in such good condition. Right above the zigzag mark is a hole right in the center. There is a corresponding hole on the front but doesn't go through. Reminds me of maybe a protractor or jig being used to get a round circle. Thanks again for your info. Bill