Antique Swedish Tankard Hallmark

[dev1n540]

Hi all,

I have an antique silver tankard with 24 medallions attached from Johann Karl Hedlinger's Regents of Sweden series. The top of the lid has medallions of Swedish royalty from the 1600's. There is a hallmark stamped on the bottom which depicts a "G" with a crown. This could possibly mean Gothenburg. Sweden? Next to that is possibly a makers mark "SM" and then another hallmark to the other side. I am having difficulty finding information on this hallmark. If you could provide any insight it would be greatly appreciated! I am not sure if this is a low grade silver hallmark or if the piece is merely plated. This is the only hallmark I could find on the piece.

Please see photos.

Please note that the hallmark images have been flipped and the "G" with a crown is upside down when the tankard is sitting upright. This may help with the orientation of the other hallmarks.

Thank you for your time.

[Qrt.S]

Would you mind if I ask you to clean the marks and polish the tankard and then show us new pictures? Anyway, what immediately caught my eyes is the missing Swedish hallmark, the cat's paw/three crowns, indicating silver. It is very rare indeed that the hallmark is missing from Swedish silver. What makes you think it is silver? It doesn't look like it or is it only discolored? Undoubtedly the marks resemble very much Swedish silver marks, but, but...the missing hallmark!
A crowned G is Gothenburg's town mark from 1860 and I don't think the maker's mark is SM but a combination of a letter and a figure being the year mark. The other mark with 6 or 7 characters is more likely the maker's mark but what are they?
The tankard could well be plated brass (?) and relatively new from the beginning of the 20th century, in any case not older than from the latter part of the 19th century (1860->) but again but, but...?
Clean the marks as requested and let's take a new look. A polishing could reveal some wear marks and the base metal.

[dev1n540]

Hi Qrt.S,

Thank you for the reply and also what I noticed immediately was the lack of the three crown hallmark. I believe it to be silver because of the hallmarks, tarnish, and an expert said it could be a coin or low grade silver. I am pretty sure the crowned G does mean Gothenburg and maybe we could compare the other marks to makers from that area? The SM hallmark is a little strange because I think it is definitely and "S" but I am not sure if it is an N or M following it or it could even be a number.
The mark with 6 characters should be the name on it. I used silver polish and a brush to clean out the stamp a little more.
From my macro shots on the makers mark I can identify a character that looks like it has three spikes on the top and bottom. I also can see what appears to be the letter "C" which could help in the orientation of this stamp. Is it common for stamps to be placed in different orientations?
The crowned G is definitely upside down but I am not sure if the "SM"/"MS" is or the makers mark.

Please see additional photos. I did my best to capture the makers mark.
Please let me know what you think!

[Qrt.S]

Sorry but it took some time, anyway, I tried my best and by eliminating what it cannot be, The result is that I believe the badly punched mark to show FR.H & C and that would be Frans Holm & Co1873-1894 in Goetenburgh but I'm not sure at all! Not at all,but there are hardly any other alternatives!

[dev1n540]

Qrt.S,

Thank you for all of your effort! I figured that process of elimination would be the best way of identifying the maker! The weird cross character could be representing an ampersand. At least I have a greater suspicion of the maker now!

Many thanks.

[Alex H]

The two digit mark looks a lot like a NS mark seen on Swedish "nysilver" items (Nickel Silver).

[AG2012]

Hi,
Can you show us detailed images of the coins, please ? At least some of them are 16th century Oldenburg rulers.
They do not tarnish like this with red patina.Or replicas made of another alloy, strange mintage for 16th century.
Is it silver at all ? Very strange selective and regular patina following the ribs and coins in red.Strange.Test it for silver and clean it (no abrasives !).
Thank you.
Regards