silver whistle

[boneheaddread]

Hi , looking for some help/info on the very worn hallmarks on this silver whistle , that I found with my metal detector , thanks john

[dognose]

Hi John,

Welcome to the Forum.

You seem to have achived a good focus in your second photo, but not so good with the crucial hallmark shot on the first one. Try another shot of just the hallmark.

Regards Trev.

[boneheaddread]

Hi, thanks for the reply , my camara is not to hot but heres another photo[img][img]http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/tt107/boneheaddread/sundaysfindswhistle087-1.jpg[/img][/img]

[dognose]

Hi,

Don't hold me to it, but it looks like Birmingham 1895. As for the maker, how do you read the mark on the extreme left?

It would be good to hear the thoughts of others.

Trev.

[Granmaa]

It's still not very clear, but I'll take a guess at 1902 Birmingham.

Miles

[boneheaddread]

Hi, thanks for the replys , birmingham was my first thought but I read somewhere that the anchor mark was only ever stamped on its side on gold??? , from what I can make out the date letter is a c in a square box which looks to be 1851? , thanks again john

[Granmaa]

The style of the whistle is much more Edwardian (or later) than Victorian which is why I thought it was the 1902 C.

As for sideways anchors; as far as I know they were occasionally stamped on silver from the earliest days of the assay office up until around 1900. I say this because I have not seen it on any later piece. It would be nice to know a precise date and why they did it.

Here's one from 1897.

Miles

[StewartMcI]

The makers' mark is "H&T" for Messrs. Hilliard and Thomason.

Stewart

[boneheaddread]

Hi, thanks for all your replys and help , thats amazing how you worked out the makers mark , thanks again john

[carlislepaul]

Further to the above information on the Birmingham anchor being stamped sideways, on another website the statement is made that the anchor was stamped sideways in the date cycle 1875 to 1899.

I have 3 small items in this date cycle and all have a sideways anchor, can anybody confirm or deny that this information is indeed correct and if so was it for all items or just small items.

Regards

Paul

[paulandolivia]

Hi there thanks so much for your info on the sideways anchor it was brill. We were searching for the answer for ages!

Olivia