Featured Come Play a Hunting Game

I'd buy them for $40

 

I will put in $10 for Lucille to take a little gamble...then she can split the proceeds with me and I will get more than my investment back!

 

Curious looks old but could be early to mid twentieth century because of...
Hmmm...its got four...
What's that on top of the.....
Gotta love the stretch...
I'd buy just for the curiosity factor.

 

Thanks, Flipper. With your $10, let's go for it!

I'm sure there is some treasure in there knowing Mr. Nate.

 

Thank you everyone for your guesses, thoughts, and insights in today's game. This post isn't necessarily a spoiler, as I still haven't received the items in the photo. But yes, of course if I'm posting these photos I pulled the trigger and gambled. And gamble is the key word, I truly don't know what I'm getting, but I'm really hopeful I'm correct about what I'm getting. Now, here's a point that may shock some of you, I specifically asked not to receive the large water pitcher. That may well be a mistake, but allow me to walk you through my thought process that has been successful for quite some time:

1. Step one as many of you already know is the scanning through 1,000's of listings to find something that looks promising. I work hard to eliminate all the stuff that in my mind isn't worth even asking about. Usually I'm trying to spot one item in a bunch that is worth the gamble. And my eyes zeroed in on the little mug/tankard on the upper right of the photograph.

2. So about the pitcher. I have nothing conclusive that convinces me that it's not silverplate. It very well could be real silver, but I just don't have much to go off of. The exterior bird and flower decoration is pretty, it has a nice tone on the outside, but it just seems "chunky" to me. My subconscious logic was that it must be plated because if you were using that thickness of silver, wouldn't you work a little harder on the design? Additionally, I just didn't see "sterling" popping out on the bottom mark (i know it's hard to see anything on the bottom" and I would expect given the tarnished sides to see a makers mark with that deep black tarnish that fills in makers marks over time). It just didn't add up, so I specifically asked it to be omitted in the shipment....Why on earth would I do that????

3. So to respond to a few thoughts from Steffanie: this is not from an auction/estate sale etc. There's no other lots to look at. This site is individual sellers, and they are listing stuff to sell locally (but I'm not local). So the delicate dance that I must lead is to make the transaction as easy as possible for them, because if I ask too many questions this is what happens:

-"Umm, it's only $20 I really don't want to answer questions, just come take a look at it if you want it" (that's a problem because I'm not local)

-"Oh...you know after you asked for those extra photos I took a closer look and I think this is worth a lot more than I thought; sorry I won't be selling this and I'm taking down the listing, my apologies!"

But even assuming I get past those hurdles, here's the real issue: I have to make the transaction super easy because I'm asking the seller to do something extra for me, I'm asking them to pack it up and ship it to me. And with all of my deals, I pay the asking price plus the shipping cost. So from the perspective of the seller, they are still only getting their asking price. If i'm not convenient and easy, this is what I get:

-"You know, for $20 I'd rather just wait until someone local buys it from me, it's just a big hassle for a small amount of money, sorry"

So....if I feel somewhat confident that the pitcher is silverplated, in a way I'm giving the seller more than they were asking. I get what I hope are the goodies, and they get to keep one of the items. So I'm giving them a better deal than the local purchase without paying more. PLUS I need to keep the shipping cost down, since I'm gambling after all I need my wrong guesses to be cheap.

4. On to the details of the item I was looking at. I honestly didn't look at anything other than the pitcher and the mug/tankard, because it's too small of a lot to factor in to my decision. Simple math = if i think the tankard is silver, BUY! If I don't think it's silver, PASS! And if anything else is silver yay!

So many of you were eyeing that tankard and so was I. It was rather interesting that they knew to flip up the bottom, but I've accepted for a long time that many people unwittingly sell silver for well below value. If you doubt that, feel free to look back on some of my posts over the last few years. It happens, and it even happens to people who are somewhat knowledgeable on the subject.

So the obvious part on the mug that got me instantly interested was the marks on the base. I immediately thought OLD and I hope I'm right. The tone of the mug in the first photo is exactly what I'm looking for, it has an uneven tarnish and a few "stubborn" tarnish spots that seems to occur more with the real stuff. I used photo 1 to compare to styles/periods of mugs tankards when I was doing my initial research. The mug kind of appears to have a pattern on it, but it's really hard to tell (and might be my eyes playing tricks on me). But if it doesn't have a pattern, it's almost warn off from years of use.

The other observation, this doesn't look like a modern manufacture job. The outside of the mug looks rippled, hopefully from a few thousand hammer hits to make it into shape. So on to photo two: Those wonderful marks (which I hope are legit). What's promising to me: they aren't stamped in some great uniform fashion, they're just roughly assembled on the bottom which to me makes it more likely to be authentic from the period I'm hoping for.

Now on to the "banged up nature" of the mug. That's a GREAT sign, it hopefully means it's soft metal. Now I tried to tie all the clues together. Cluster of four marks on the base, shape/style of the mug, the style of the handle etc. etc.... So, if I get very lucky I'm going to be the proud owner of a banged up Georgian Sterling Mug from the mid to late 1700's. My fingers are crossed, but if I'm wrong, I was only wrong for $35. I should get the package Wednesday or Thursday.

*One final note. Since the item is already in the mail, I went back and asked for additional photos of the pitcher just to see if the seller will send them. This seller was very nice, but it was a hard deal to close since I would send a message and it would be 7-8 hours before they responded...every time I sent a message. It was a full two days to get the deal moving, so I didn't feel like adding any friction into it until I knew something was heading my way.

 

Here's some marks that I hope are similar to this one...all just a guess at this point:

https://www.bryandouglas.co.uk/silverware/tankards/d8462/d8462b.htm

 

I too thought the tankard was the real deal in this group.

My reasoning for discounting the pitcher was the photo of the bottom looked to me to have a set of 4 numbers included in the mark which to me says plate. BWDIK

 

I was thinking the tankard/cann was a good possible, for the reasons Mr Nate mentioned only he knew how to put it into words. I have a hunch that small spoon is legit too. The pitcher wanted to be real silver, but the base looks wrong. The rest of it is tarnished and patinated but the base isn't. And it's got that number on it; those usually indicate plated pieces in my limited experience.

The rest...dunno.

 

Very well said on the pitcher...I couldn't put it to words as well as you did. It's the contrast between the look of the base (bad) and the nice tarnished outside of the rest of the piece. To me, it just looks "machine perfect" on the manufacture of the base, not an imperfection to be seen. It's how the base looks that was relevant to me also.

 

I happen to own a piece similar to the tankard - George III marks. I hope this works out for you, Nate!

(It only set me back $8. I assume the estate group running the sale had an inexperienced person on pricing that day. Given what it weighs they should have wanted $80 at least.)

 

possible monograms

 

Too bad you didn't go for the large pitcher, even though it is probably plate.
I think it had potential resale value.

 

Well good luck and let us know how you make out! Thank you for a fun game and a little education to boot!

 

Off I go to facebook to look for some silver! lol

 

I was thinking the tankard and possibly the spoons are silver. Can't wait to see what the outcome is MrN8

 

A good game
I also like the mug (although I cannot make out the marks on the base) and spoons (especially the large one)
The pitcher has a serial number on base which from what I have seen in the past makes it likely to be silver plate, though it does appear to have some age to it
So I would take the chance at $40

 

Very interesting! I'll be interested to see what you end up with!

Leslie

 

Gee, I am so new at this that I do not know what I would do. But, 1.) I would certainly have a second look if I found them in a yard sale or estate sale; 2.) I would look up the marks on the cup and the pitcher and be tempted to buy it all just because I love the pitcher and if it is not valuable as a silver piece (marked 925 or more) I'd use it as a vase; 3.) I do not see any wear on the silver bowls of the three spoons, so I would think they are sterling; 4.) the salad tong look modern like the ones I have; and 5.) those tongs, due to the size do not look like sugar tongs, but look so flimsy that that may be all the could pick up and I do not like the large bend that would make the handle close before you could pick up anything but a finger sandwich made with a fat croissant. Yes, I would buy the lot of them for $40.00.

 

The tankard alone is the piece that caught my eye. It's the only thing in the photo I'd have any interest in. I'd guess, without seeing any marks, that it's over 150 years old.

 

Great eyes! I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw something on the surface.