Unidentified mark on silver needle case.

Re-Elu · Post by **Re-Elu** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:38 am

Hello,

Who can help me with this mark on my newly bought silver needle case?
I don't know anything about the age or origin of the needle case, I only now it's silver.
The mark shown in the picture is the only mark on the item. One of the letters appears to be a Z. The other letter looks like an I or a T to me, but I can hardly tell. The mark is extremely small, can't be read with the naked eye.

blakstone · Post by **blakstone** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:32 pm

It's a Dutch import mark in use from 1953; Z = "zilver (silver); I = .925 (sterling). Hope this helps!

Re-Elu · Post by **Re-Elu** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:27 pm

Thanks! I am Dutch so the mark makes sense, lol.
Does this mean that the needlecase itself is also from 1953, or can it be older, since I bought it as antique?

Picture of the needlecase:

Doos · Post by **Doos** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 6:35 am

Hi,

The mark indicates that it was offered for assaying in completed state ("voltooide staat"), as often is the case with imported goods. It says nothing about the origin or date of fabrication. The tolerance for these goods are lowered to 20/000 as the fineness can not be determined to a closer tolerance.

Any silver item sold in The Netherlands must be stamped with legible marks (can also be antique marks), if not then it will be stamped with this z1 mark or z2 or a z with 2 dots. The auction houses send everything which is not marked to one of the assay offices and they will be marked this way, regardless where it came from or when it was made (could even be a domestic item from the middle ages).

Re-Elu · Post by **Re-Elu** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 8:17 am

Thank you very much for the information :-)