Serving spoon, possibly Austrian?

[silverpac]

I have this nice large servng spoon with what appears to be Austrian marks. The spoon is in very good condition and the date would appear to be 1518? if following the Austrian date model but that can't possibly be right. I am inclined to think it is a reproduction of an earlier piece somewhat like Hermann Ratzersdorfer was doing. The picturer of the mark turned out pretty good but you cant' make out the initials very well. They are a Rd with two lines under the d. It does appear to have a clear mark of "k" at the bottom for Klagenfurt. Any help would definitely be appreciated. RN

[dognose]

Hi Silverpac,

This article will reveal all: http://www.925-1000.com/registry.html

Regards Trev.

[silverpac]

Wow, Trev that was amazing. I thought I had looked at everything on this website and maybe I had seen that before but didn't remember or just didn't have the faintest idea of what it was for, in fact I hate to seem ignorant but I'm still a little in the dark. So those are like patent numbers in the U.S.? But what is the utility of a register number on a spoon? And I am supposing that the item is not silver then? If that's the case then I have a bone to pick with a local antique dealer. He didn't warrant it as Austrian or anythinhg else for that matter but did sell it as sterling and I not knowing the registry mark thing thought at first glance that it was probably Austrian? Well it's always good to learn something new. Thanks. Roger

[dognose]

Hi Roger,

The registration protected the design by preventing its use by other manufacturers for a period of three years.

The mark can appear on just about anything, if there are no other marks, then the spoon is likely to be plated.

Regards Trev.

[silverpac]

Thanks again Trev. As long as we learn, not all is wasted. Regards Roger