Tell me about oz

[ranazonce]

A friend has a bunch of Kirk & Sons Maryland silver pieces of varying sizes all marked with "11 oz". I have a couple of Wm Rogers MFG Co spoons (and no, I haven't been able to find the pattern of it ANYWHERE) marked with "12 oz". All of the pieces appear to be from around 1870. I am thinking that the "oz" is somehow referring to the quantity of actual silver in the piece, but despite my best internet searches, have found nothing on it.

Does anyone know anything about this?

[oel]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.
12 oz could be for 12 ounces

Best,

Oel

[dragonflywink]

Well, probably a sort of confusing answer - the Kirk & Sons '11 OZ' is an indicator of the silver content, used on Baltimore silver, meaning 11 parts silver out of 12 (12 troy ounces in a troy pound), or 917/1000 rather than sterling at 925/1000; '11-2' for sterling was also used, as well as a lower standard, '10.15' (896/1000). Sorry, not near my references for the exact dates - Baltimore had an official assay office in the early 19th century, believe they stopped around 1830 - but the numeric marks continued to be used there for many years after the assay office closed. The Wm. Rogers spoons would be silverplate, with the '12 OZ' indicating 'Triple Plate'; in theory, 12 ounces would be the amount of silver used to triple plate a gross (144) of tablespoons, with 6 ounces being the amount used on teaspoons - but Rogers used the '12 OZ' on all sorts of pieces in various sizes, so it seemed to just be a marketing term for triple-plate...and just for some added complication, the 'Dwt.' (pennyweight) mentioned in the old ad below, was a mark most often found on table knives, believed to indicate the amount of silver used to electroplate a dozen pieces.

~Cheryl

Kirk Marks

1899 ad for Wm. Rogers flatware, showing the pieces available in 'Triple Plate. 12-oz.':

[ranazonce]

Cheryl -
Thanks so much for the great answer! My friend is thrilled to find this out and even though my spoons are just plate, it makes me happy to know what they are. You have made our day!

[dragonflywink]

Glad to help - if you post pics of your Rogers spoons in the 'Flatware Pattern Identification' forum, you might find out the pattern name...

~Cheryl