Silver content?Vintage Reed & Barton International Silver Co

[dommo]

Anyone have any advice on how to determine the silver content of some old silver I have. ? I have about a dozen items ...bowls, trays etc . made in the 1930's + 1940's for New York's Delmonico's Hotel and Restaurant but I do not know what the numbers mean that are on the underside of them ...some have letters and numbers and weight in ounces stamped under the manufacturer. Such as International Silver Co Silver Soldered SE0850 29 ... or one has International Silver Co Silver Soldered SF049 96oz, another had the 1938 date stamp and says Reed and Barton Silver Soldered 2800 8, and a tray with the cannon date symbol for 1940 Reed and Barton 6249 - S then 10 on the bottom. These are just a few examples ...see the attachments for pictures.

I am trying to find a resource to find out what these numbers mean so I can try to figure out whether these items are solid silver or what. Seems odd to me that they would stamp 96 oz on the bottom of one of them if it wasn't solid silver .. ? I have been searching the web but I am not having any luck. Any info would be appreciated .. Thanks... Dominick

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[dragonflywink]

Hi Dominick ~ Your restaurant/hotelware pieces are not solid silver, they are heavily silverplated, many similar pieces will exhibit a distinctive rough, orange peel finish from years of being polished in commercial machines. "Silver Soldered" refers to a thin line of hard solder (roughly 2/3 silver) used to join holloware parts, often used on better quality silverplate, "Hard Soldered" is another term that sometimes appears on hotelware. The "96 oz." and other measurements are not the weight of the items, they indicate the liquid capacity of the pieces.

Pictures cannot be posted as attachments, if you read the Posting Requirements: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10 - there's a Tutorial on How to Add an Image: http://www.925-1000.com/images.html

~Cheryl

A 1921 ad for Albert Pick & Co. Public Service Silver (Hotel and Restaurant Ware):



An 1884 ad for Gorham's Plated Wares for Hotel, Club and Restaurant Uses: