www.925-1000.com

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

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

~Cheryl

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

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

~Cheryl

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.