What is the date of spoons? (TOWLE SILVERSMITHS)

[roma_lyk]

I have a spoons. Colonial pattern 1895. TOWLE SILVERSMITHS. Will be find the date-made?

[JLDoggett]

There is no way to say when after 1896 they were made, though being skived (using a drop shear to trim the edges) versus sawn (Hand-sawn to the outside edge) edge I would put them as post WWII (1950-1980).

[roma_lyk]

Thank you!
Where can I see this? My saller says this form up to 1905 year.

[JLDoggett]

Actually the pattern is still in production, so they could have been made very recently. Notice the way the pattern is trimmed away in the enlarged picture of the marks. this is indicitive of what happens when using a skiving die to trim the piecce. When I worked for Towle that would have been accepted though we did get orders that called for hand sawing the edges for people who wanted to special order replacement pieces for older services.

[roma_lyk]

Thank you! I am very grateful to you!
One additional question. I was told :"no US silver was marked 925/1000 after the 1930's and almost none after 1910." is it correctly?

[JLDoggett]

No that is not correct. Towle had several patterns in production with those marking when I worked there in the 1970's. It all depended on what the pattern specifications called for in the way of stamping. The dies are made using something called a hub, this looks exactly like the finished piece of silver but carved in hardened steel. The die is pre-carved to a certain extent to acept the hub being pressed into it leaving a perfect impression (yes, I am simplifying the process here). The hub carries the quality stamps, company name, copy-right insignia ect... Therefore when new dies are made with origional hubs they would still bear the 925/1000 stamp.

[silverly]

JLDoggett, thank you for the simplified explanation about how the die and hub work together. I was just reading about Bates (Harold) & Klinke (Oscar F) who were both hub and die cutters, and I had no idea what the hub was.