please help me ID this old peice

[russell edward]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a106/ ... c15654.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a106/ ... c15662.jpg
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[byron mac donald]

Hi Russell-

Just a guess on my part, and my guess is not as good as most on this forum; it looks like either Latvia or Russia to me.

http://www.925-1000.com/foreign_marks.html

Regards- Byron
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[Bahner]

Hallo, that is the Latvian hallmark introduced in 1922. Silver standards were 875, 916 and 980. Best wishes, Bahner
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[georgiansilver]

Assuming that this item is made from GOLD as it is under the GOLD section, I would suggest it is 22 carat gold but from where I am not sure.
Best wishes, Mike.
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[blakstone]

I'm confused. Is this item gold or silver? Likewise, I am loathe to disagree with Bahner, but I think this is the mark for items of .916 silver weighing less than 10 grams and made in the USSR from 1927-1958; see this thread. Can't make out the assay office mark, though; it should be a Greek letter behind the head.

The 1922 Latvian mark was left-profile, not right, faced upwards, and was not in a stepped outline:


It could still actually be Latvian, which did use this mark from 1946 when it was re-annexed into the USSR; the assay office mark was the Greek letter tau (which before 1946 had been the mark of the Kostroma office in the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.)

Is there a maker's mark? And what is the mark on?
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[Bahner]

Hello, took a closer look (which I should have done in the first place) and agree with blakstone and disagree with my own opinion as posted above. I neglected that Russia, too, with 88 zolotniki had it’s own 916 (exactly 916,6) silver standard. And as the lady is looking the other way, she is more likely Russian / Soviet than Latvian. Best wishes, Bahner
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[Qrt.S]

Hi
A rather late reply, but better late than ever. Anyway, the mark in question is a (Soviet) Latvian assaying mark used 1919-1940. I'm afraid that the link blakstone provides, shows a totally different mark. That mark was used between 1954-58 in CCCP but has nothing to do with this Latvian mark. FYI, it is not a gold but a silver assaying mark.
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[dragonflywink]

Hi - welcome to the forums. Suspect that you are not seeing the original poster's pictures - I find them deleted on the photohost, a common problem when pulling up old posts.

~Cheryl
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[Qrt.S]

Thank you. You're right I cannot see the original pictures. I only reacted on the Latvian assay mark. What have I missed?
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[blakstone]

As I recall, the original images showed Soviet "worker's head" .916 silver mark of the same vintage as the one in the linked post I referenced. When the otherwise infallible Bahner stated that this (now deleted) mark was that of independent (not Soviet!) Latvia of 1922-1940, I disagreed and posted a clear version of the latter to show the difference; that is the mark that remains in my post.

After looking at both images, Bahner subsequently changed his mind and agreed that the original (now deleted marks) were, in fact Soviet and not Latvian as he had originally thought.

Also, my confusion regarding gold arose because this thread was originally started in the Gold Marks - Worldwide forum and the original (now deleted) marks were clearly Soviet silver marks. This post has since been moved by the administrator to the new Russian Silver forum.

Really, I promise, I'm not a dope. Ask anybody. :-)
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[dragonflywink]

Heh, I'll vouch for him - blakstone is smarter than the average bear (and knows his silver).

~Cheryl
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[Qrt.S]

OK, sorry that I misunderstood what was the question but I was unable to see the original mark. It shall not happen again.

However, being new here, I must say that it is rather irritating that a lot of photos/pictures i old threads are inaccessible because they are deleted, why's that? Deleting the photos destroy the threads.
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[dragonflywink]

Missing pictures are frustrating, but certainly not the fault of the administrators - the original posters have either deleted their pics, or the account has been closed, or the photohost has shut down, could be any number of reasons. The Posting Requirements page clearly requests that photos be left up as long as possible - though have seen them deleted within hours - seems some posters are interested only in having their questions answered, not considering that their pictures would add to the wealth of information on this site.

~Cheryl
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