Coin Silver Spoons?

I recently bought 22 new spoons and I have questions - of course. This first set of 5 are very similar in shape. They are very thin and plain. Only one has a mark on the back. There are two different monograms. I had to use two posts.

I read here that the flat handle shape may signify coin silver. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

I feel silly for asking this, but - what does the shape of the handle have to do with the purity/quality of the silver?

 

The pic of the mark is a bit blurry, but it looks rather like an English hallmark for London, possibly Georgian period if that is a monarchs head following the FM.

 

Hi Kiko - they're shouldered fiddles, and good possibility they're all first-half of 19th century American coin, especially if they're rather thin and 'flexy', though there were some plated nickel silver pieces that can be foolers (guessing that yellowish tone is just your pics). The mark image is, as mentioned, a bit fuzzy - from what I can see, looks like it may be one of the various sets of marks used by Frederick Marquand...

~Cheryl

 

There are no silly questions here - if there were, I would be laughed off the forum. I study every post here that I have time for, and when I saw these I hoped we were talking early hand made pieces by silversmiths. It is the shape that points to age not silver purity. I was very excited to see these, as they point to a time, when spoons were made from melting down coins.

 

Sorry about the blurry photo. I am busily getting ready to go on a two month camping trip, and don't have the usual time to work with the material I present here. Thanks for weighing in on this.

 

Cheryl
This is sooooooooooooooooo exciting. I read ever one of your posts that I can with great diligence, and finding these was the result. They were in a big basket with a $3 each price tag and since they were not marked without your and other silver members posts and discussions, I would not have recognized them for the antiques that they are. Yes the yellow is just an artifact of the night light. They are thin and flexy. This gives me hope for the other 17 spoons too, as I think this was someone's collection. Thank you so much! Sorry for the fuzzy pics.
Kiko

 

I don't think this is English/British. For one thing, a duty-stamped piece of silver would've had FIVE marks, not four.

Date-mark, maker's mark, assay-mark, fineness mark, and the duty-mark.

I only see four stamps.

It may possibly still be silver, but I don't think it's British.

 

That is not the case at all, you often find English silver with 2,3,4 & 5 marks, especially from the Georgian period. So having 4 doesn't offer any id either way.

 

Yep, this design is very similar to American coin silver spoons. Many of them are found unmarked, you'd really have to do some testing to determine purity on them.

 

I am a complete failure at testing. I like to surround myself with interesting old things and to learn how to spot them. The purity is inconsequential in this effort. It is enough for me to know they are from a time where life was lived differently.

 

Ca 1840 'Hartford Eagle' Fiddleback Coin Silver Spoon | Etsy

 

Thank you. Very nice reference spoons. Mine seem to have the same bottom - that slightly rounded square, turned down style.



I wonder if that is characteristic of the time or the locale?

 

The downturned handle is typical of fiddle pattern spoons, could go into all sorts of geeky spoon stuff, but will spare you and just share this short article on the AC Silver site concerning the handles on British flatware (American coin, for the most part, followed British style):

https://www.acsilver.co.uk/acsnews/2014/08/28/silver-flatware-patterns-handles/


Meant to get back here sooner, but took me until now to locate the McGrew book on American coin pseudo-marks - much of my stuff is packed away, and quite a bit in storage, but I knew the darned book was in my hand just a couple of weeks ago. Marks similar to what I can make out of yours are shown, found on pieces retailed by Marquand, and attributed to different NYC makers.

Marquand worked in Savannah, GA and New York City, so there is a 'Southern silver' connection, and there was for a time, a theory concerning the different letters found on his pieces being 'date letters' corresponding to his years in Savannah, but this is discounted now since the same distinct pseudo-marks are found on pieces bearing numerous other retailer's marks.

Here are a couple of Marquand marks, compared to your piece at top:




Should mention that since the form is so common, attributing any of your other spoons to a maker is pretty much impossible, and the value of most unmarked American coin is lower than marked pieces. Thought you noted the price you gave, but now I don't see it, if I didn't imagine it and remember the amount correctly, even if they're quite lightweight, you paid well under scrap value and they're certainly worth more than scrap...

edit: Ahh, now I see the price in a later post, good to know I'm not hallucinating and the memory isn't completely shot...


~Cheryl

 

Love the link. There is so much information out there, it's hard to determine what are the best sources.

I didn't realize that Marquand was a retailer, not a maker. I can see by your two examples, the similarity between the mark on mine and these two with the PM Middle Design and the C on mine being on those. So it looks like the marked one is a Frederick Marquand for sure. I very much appreciate you tracking this down, and that you kept some books for handy reference.

I have one other coin silver spoon, so this is a real education for me. Not that I am likely to find more than an occasional stray spoon that may be interesting. This was very unusual for a collection like this to be put out in the housewares section, as they usually spot anything good and price it accordingly.

While I am fairly indiscriminate when it comes to silver, I will look for marked coin silver in the future. Thank you for taking the time for such a thorough analysis of these pieces.

 

Sorry, should have been more clear - Frederick Marquand was a trained silversmith and did produce his own pieces, but was also a retailer - spoons like yours could be easily produced by journeymen, and were purchased from other makers at reasonable cost for resale.

Here is Marquand's page on WEV's Related American Silversmiths site, with his history and several marks:

http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~silversmiths/genealogy/makers/silversmiths/67822.htm


~Cheryl

 

Sorry to be so dense. Probably not from his hand but from his shop. This is so fascinating. You read the details of these peoples lives and realize it is people like you, Cheryl, who bring life to these objects by your interest. Thank you.

 

I have expanded my knowledge base in Georgian silver. Thank you!