Russian box: Town? & Maker?

PHOTOS REQUIRED - marks + item
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argent2
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Russian box: Town? & Maker?

Post by argent2 »

Can anyone identify the origin and maker / assayer of this silver and gold cigarette box?
I presume it is Russian because of the '84' zolotniki purity mark.

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Qrt.S
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Re: Russian box: Town? & Maker?

Post by Qrt.S »

It is Estonia. The maker's name is Johannes Messner 1924-1940 in Tallinn. EW stands for Eesti Vabariik (Republic of Estonia). The marks are the first ones used in the independent first republic of Estonia 1920-1924.
AG2012
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Re: Russian box: Town? & Maker?

Post by AG2012 »

Hi,
Althogh the case looks like Russian, marks are not Russian, overstruck mark, too.
Regards
AG2012
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Re: Russian box: Town? & Maker?

Post by AG2012 »

In the period 1919-1924 was used a re-hallmarking mark "EW + flower" (Eesti Wabariik/Estonian Republic). Silver content was expressed in zolotniki (84)
Qrt.S
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Re: Russian box: Town? & Maker?

Post by Qrt.S »

A minor addition. Because the republic was just "born" they didn't have any official silver marks. Therefore the purity is in Russian zolotniki. Please also note that there are several variations of this mark. Moreover, this mark was used 1920-24. New marks in promille was implemented in 1924. The first republic lasted to 1944.
Qrt.S
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Re: Russian box: Town? & Maker?

Post by Qrt.S »

Sorry AG2012, but the mark was implemented in January 1920 not 1919.
argent2
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Re: Russian box: Town? & Maker?

Post by argent2 »

Thank you contributors very helpful and definitive.
I see now why I could not find the marks in the Russian section!
Qrt.S
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Re: Russian box: Town? & Maker?

Post by Qrt.S »

You are welcome. However, please note that the Russian sites contain only a fraction of all Russian maker's marks. What I am saying is that you cannot draw the conclusion that a mark is not Russian if you don't find it on the mentioned sites here! They are guiding sites only! In this case the mark happens to be early Estonian (pure coincident) but, anyway, there are several hundreds of maker's marks "missing" from the mentioned pages. The hallmark pages are, anyway, rather complete.
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