Mocha Jug, silver?
Mocha Jug, silver?
I can find a lot of copies of this Mocha Jug on internet, but no matches with the S11 hallmark. Which country does it come from? Is it second grade silver? S11? I need some help here. Thanks in advance!
Re: Mocha Jug, silver?
"The standard for silver marking follows the same regulation as Portugal in the 15th and 16th century, but in Colonial Brazil only a small amount of production was marked to avoid authorities' controls.
Silver manufactured in Bahia was marked with the "B crowned", that of the Senate of Bahia with the "S" and that of Rio de Janeiro with the "R crowned".
Also pieces can be found marked with "10" or bearing only the silversmith's initials (especially in the 19th century)."
I'm reading an investigation on Portuguese 11 dinheiros silver coins but it is too technical and doesn't help solve the mocha mystery.
If I had to guess, I think we are dealing with an object marked "S" for the "Senate of Bahia" and the "11" is for "11 Dinheiros" which is a obsolescent silver fineness scale. Perhaps the object is made from melted-down Portuguese silver coins of "11 Dinheiros" fineness.
That's my best guess at this point, the fact that the mocha pot is a European form fits with the history of 19th Century Brazilian Silver, I see other European forms reproduced in Brazil around that time, although I have only seen a fineness mark of "10" and I haven't seen a fineness mark of "11" still it is possible that a fineness mark of "11" did exist but I will do more research to try and find an "11" fineness mark from Brazil.
Silver manufactured in Bahia was marked with the "B crowned", that of the Senate of Bahia with the "S" and that of Rio de Janeiro with the "R crowned".
Also pieces can be found marked with "10" or bearing only the silversmith's initials (especially in the 19th century)."
I'm reading an investigation on Portuguese 11 dinheiros silver coins but it is too technical and doesn't help solve the mocha mystery.
If I had to guess, I think we are dealing with an object marked "S" for the "Senate of Bahia" and the "11" is for "11 Dinheiros" which is a obsolescent silver fineness scale. Perhaps the object is made from melted-down Portuguese silver coins of "11 Dinheiros" fineness.
That's my best guess at this point, the fact that the mocha pot is a European form fits with the history of 19th Century Brazilian Silver, I see other European forms reproduced in Brazil around that time, although I have only seen a fineness mark of "10" and I haven't seen a fineness mark of "11" still it is possible that a fineness mark of "11" did exist but I will do more research to try and find an "11" fineness mark from Brazil.
Re: Mocha Jug, silver?
Going back a few centuries, Portuguese silver fineness was communicated using "dinheiros" and 11 dinihieros is (916/1000) so the fineness would be close to sterling 925 standard.
Re: Mocha Jug, silver?
Thanks for the explanation!
Re: Mocha Jug, silver?
12 Dinehierros is a standard expression of pure silver and this coin from Mexico minted in 1830 is stamped by the mint to guarantee 10 dinihieros 20 granos and because there are 24 granos in a dinero therefore "10 dineros, 20 granos is (10 20/24)/12=.9027 so the coin has a silver content of 90+% silver and is guaranteed to be at that fineness level.
I spell that word wrong every time I apologize.
I spell that word wrong every time I apologize.