Small Spoon Gold Colored - Coin?

[hpidaves]

This 5-5/8" spoon has a definite gold color to it, even after polishing. It seems like it could be coin, but is possibly a bit too stiff. The back of the handle is marked "13 J & Co 13" with a crown above the "J & Co". At first I thought it might be nickel silver or plated, but the gold color has confused me a bit. After polishing with Wright's Silver Cream, the sponge had a relatively dark black to it, which happens when I polish silver plate, coin, and sterling. Could it be a gold wash over the entire piece? It's a bit difficult to see in the photos, but there is a gold color to the whole spoon.

It could also be that what I'm seeing is brass with all the plating worn away.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Dave

[dragonflywink]

Maybe it's my monitor, but looks silver to me - it's definitely not American coin. Perhaps Berlin maker Jürst & Co...

~Cheryl

[Bahner]

Hello, this is indeed neither silver nor silverplate, it is "German Silver" with a high content of copper, thus the yellowish tint. Cheryl is on spot (as always) - maker is Juerst and Co from Berlin. This can be very roughly dated around 1860-1870, give or take, the 13 was meant to fool people into believing this might be a fineness of 13 Lot silver. This practice was given up after more and more courts decided this was not legit. Regards Bahner

[dragonflywink]

Thank you, Bahner. An interesting mark - will move to the silverplate forum...

~Cheryl

[hpidaves]

Thank you all for the info! I tried and tried to find that mark with no success. The 13 did make me think German 13 Loth.