Everyone helped me out with my last question and I'm now the owner of a Ohaus Cent-O-Gram going crazy weighing pieces to determine the composition.
I found an "antique sterling silver" crumb tray at an estate auction I attend and bought it. The problem is that it has no hallmarks or silver marks. The house had acid tested it (sigh - in two places) and sold it as sterling. I got it home and rigged a holder and came up with a specific gravity of 10.44. A little high for sterling but given that my kitchen isn't a lab, I'm satisfied that the results are in the right range.
Without any marks, what do I have????? My only clues are an engraved "1861" on the handle that I take to be a date and the engraving on the blade of the crumb tray. The piece measures 13" x 2 3/4" and weighs 148.35 grams. Rather than pictures in this post, here are links to pictures on my hosting service:
http://www.globalarray.net/user/kandlsa ... umb001.JPG
http://www.globalarray.net/user/kandlsa ... umb003.JPG
http://www.globalarray.net/user/kandlsa ... umb004.JPG
http://www.globalarray.net/user/kandlsa ... umb005.JPG
http://www.globalarray.net/user/kandlsa ... umb006.JPG
To me, the engraving on the blade is a generic coastal scene but perhaps someone with more experience can give me some clues as to where it was made and if it's actually 150 years old. I haven't buffed it but it was pretty tarnished so I cleaned it up a bit to see what the engraving looked like.
Thanks.
