Coin silver/Maker..Any info..Robert Rait/Durand
Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 4:15 pm
by Ekneer
This item has no mark I could find information on in a fairly extensive web search. I think it is referred to as "coin silver", and the date is between 1830 and 1855. Looking for history of maker, which is "Robert Rait". Also would like to better understand what this "coin silver" is alloyed with...
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 6:16 pm
by wev
Robert Rait was a New York City silversmith, working c 1835-1860. He is known to have provided police badges under contract to the city and his mark is found in conjuction with that of other makersand retailers. Durand is either John or his brother Lewis, both of whom worked in NYC c 1830-1850.
The alloyof 'coin' silver varied widely; basically it was silver and copper, but with trace amounts of gold, lead, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, or iron, depending on the materials at hand and sophistication of the alloyist.
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