Silver hallmark info

Hi all silver fork hallmark please think it's plated. I tried but I'm a painter not a hallmark converter thanks chris

 

well it's not sterling....

 

True - not sterling, likely UK silver plated at best, although I have not found this maker's mark in one very quick look. (It's too early here and another cup of coffee might help, but so would breakfast.)

Note that I said "maker's mark" and not "hallmark." (it's also too early for lecture on the subject.)

 

Bottom line is that I couldn't find any maker's mark with this combination, making it likely that your fork was made by "some blokes in a shed" as AF likes to say. In this case some very obscure blokes, at that.

The problem with silverplate maker's marks is that they are not regulated or registered in any way (unless the maker has a large enough presence in the market to warrant "trademark registration." And that's pretty much a 20th century thing.) Makers also changed them - a lot. (And it's the regulation of silver fineness under an assay system and the corresponding registration of maker's marks that is the only proper basis for using the term "hallmark.")

Some silverplate marks include commonly accepted acronyms (like EPNS or its short form EP) that hint at the country of origin (EPNS is mostly a UK thing, although it crops up occasionally on US goods.) In the US, older silverplate will often include A1 as an indicator that the plating was a "standard thickness." As an advertising ploy, US makers started using terms like "triple plate" and "quadruple plate" to entice buyers into thinking that the products were of higher quality. In continental Europe (most commonly Germany and France) silverplate marks include a number like 90 or 45 to indicate the amount of silver used in plating a standard number of pieces. If you want to know more about numbers on silver plate, this article should prove helpful. http://www.925-1000.com/a_platenumbers.html

That concludes today's lecture on Silver Plate Marks. Tune in next week for "Pseudo Marks - Confusing Customers on a Regular Basis."

 

I wonder if it's Army & Navy Cooperative Society. B for Bombay?

http://www.silvercollection.it/electroplatesilver.html

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http://www.925-1000.com/silverplate_A2.html

 

Now there is a very good thought, SIS. I don't know about the B being for Bombay, but since Chris is in Australia, something a bit more exotic than the usual UK maker is definitely possible.

Because the B was so legible and the second letter wasn't totally clear, I tried every possible combination that had a B at the beginning, including all the "unknowns." But seeing the A1 in the third picture makes me wonder whether the B is a "quality" indicator - like B grade plating?

 

Awesome thanks guys that will do nicely, chris