Plate identified as silverplate at pawn shop, not sure.

[Hagamundo]

I have a dozen plates, 9" across, approximate weight per plate is 1 lb 1 oz. I have been searching but no luck in identifying hallmarks. I took them to a local pawn shop and they used an app on their phone to identify the plate as silverplate from France? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Hagamundo]

[Hagamundo]

[amena]

At first glance, they don't look like French silverplate marks to me.
In the photo, all the marks are very partial. If all the plates have the same marks, you could post all 12 photos.
It would probably be possible to reconstruct the entire marks.
Amena

[Hagamundo]

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Additional images of stamps, the rest are very poor stamps, thanks!!

[Hagamundo]

[Aguest]

:::::::::::::: The style of the plate seems Spanish Colonial, and there is a "Crown Over M" hallmark used in Brazil with a 2-letter maker's mark, but I also am not sure if it is possible that this is from Mexico after the time of the last Assay Master (do those numbers indicate a date mark of "1869" with the "69" numbers?) and also I am thinking about the history of spurious marks on Mexican silver which would still make it real silver but the hallmarks are imitative of genuine Mexico hallmarks. ::::::::::::::::::::

[amena]

I agree with Aguest about the Spanish look of the marks.
I found this hallmarking in the "Enciclopedia de la plata", which bears some similarities to those on the plates: the crowned M, the name MELCON.

There are some differences, but I can't say whether they are genuine variants or imitation pseudo-marks.
In any case, a small, minimally invasive test with the appropriate acid will remove any doubt as to whether it's solid silver or silver-plated.

[Hagamundo]

Thank you both for your time and expertise. The owner of these plates(relative) lived in Brasil in the early 1960's and collected a wide variety of silver and silver plated items. It has been very difficult to identify.

I went through documents after reading your replies and found these two letters. I have no idea if they relate to these specific plates or different items.

[Hagamundo]

Taken from Contrastes y Marcadores de la Plata Madrilena enel Siglo XVIII
By Fernando A. Martín García
1983, Villa de Madrid

"He(Bernardo Melcon Bravo) was succeeded by his brother Eugenio Melcón, who took up the position around 1761-62, remaining in it until approximately 1782. During this period, he changed the typology and marking system; initially, he continued to use the isolated castle as a mark of Corte, and his personal mark combined with the chronological creating three lines: 62/MEL/CON. Parallel to this or in a yet undetermined period, but within the 1760s and before 1765, he changed the castle for a crowned M."

This appears to be the assayer of the plates?

[amena]

[Aguest]

::::: Is this the maker's mark? :::::::



::::::: I think I see an {FR} but there is something above the two letters? ::::::::::::::::

[amena]

I think it's the silversmith's mark.
I read FRZ, and there's certainly something else above it, probably other letters.
At the time, two-line silversmith's marks were common.
See, for example, Marino's.

I don't have any books specifically on Madrid silversmiths.