Shreve, Crump & Low Freedom Trail Sterling Tankard - genuine? comps?

The owner of the store here recently purchased two Shreve, Crump & Low limited edition sterling "Freedom Trail" tankards in presentation boxes which were manufactured circa 1975. Normally he would be thrilled with a good find, but there are a few details we are uneasy about and are trying to pin down. The first 5 pictures below show one of the Tankards as we had prepared to list it on eBay. The 6th and 7th picture show some detail on the 2nd tankard discussed below.

The owner of the store has dealt with plenty of silver over the years, and after making the purchase, he had a chance to look the pieces over in more detail. A few things bothered him about the pieces. One, he says they "don't sound right" when he taps them with a knuckle. Second, one of the pieces has extensive verdigris along the handle seam. I've shown that in the very last picture which shows the top area of the handle. That is typical, and is also found in patches along the entire seam.

Given his concerns, I have looked for comparables on these pieces. According to the booklet that came with them, there were 8 designs with 100 manufactured of each. Despite several attempts using a variety of keywords, I have not located a single comparable. With a population of 800, it would seem there should be some transaction of record over the past 10 to 15 years. Although direct eBay searches only return results for a limited period of sales history, google usually shows older eBay sales (at least the title). As well, sales through the big auction houses is usually available going back many years. Another source, Worthpoint, usually will have a record found via google search, even if the sales price is behind a subscription wall. But so far, I can find no other example of these.

My other research tack has been to try to validate the hallmarks. If you look at the first booklet page shown in the pictures, they make a big deal of the hallmark and use of it to validate the silver content. I read it as "... contains approximately eighteen ounces of sterling silver, whose quality is attested to by the "Hallmarks" stamped by the assay office." So the hallmark should be real I believe based on the way it is worded. I previously thought we had 2 different cities on these 2 pieces, but now see that both are Sheffield, one with crown and 1973 date code, the other with rose and 1975 date code. So my remaining hallmark question is - how does one confirm that the maker went through the assay office to guarantee sterling quality? I have not been able to find so far any confirmation of the Shreve maker mark in Sheffield.

One other note. The "eighteen" ounces mentioned is not the heavier and more appropriate troy ounce. At best, they are talking about regular ounces. The 1973 date code tankard weights 458 grams (16.1 oz or 14.7 ozt). The 1975 date code tankard weighs 527 grams (18.6 oz or 16.9 ozt). I think their target market was consumers with money to spare, so I can at least understand this. Their typical customer might not be aware of troy ounces.

In conclusion, I am: 1) looking for help on a comparable, 2) looking for comments on the verdigris issue on the handle of the 1973 piece, and 3) looking for ways to validate the Sheffield hallmarks on these pieces.

Thanks all! ... Dave

 

The hallmarks do appear to match the dates given. The crown city mark for Sheffield was last used in 1974 and was replaced by the rose beginning in 1975. The date letters also match the years in question.

See the chart in this link. http://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Dates/Sheffield.html

 

On the other hand, the list of Sheffield registered makers from that same site does not include the one punched on the tankards. That may or may not be an issue.

 

Exactly - that was one of my concerns, but I'm not sure of the significance of that yet. I'm hoping one of the silver experts can comment further. Incidentally, I've taken a close look at the handle on the 1975 piece, and find some verdigris there as well. It is just not as extensive as what is found on the 1973 piece.

 

You know, I believe Shreve Crump and Low are still in business. Contact them?

 

The owner attempted that, but didn't have any luck eliciting any further info.

 

Hmm. Disappointing.

BTW, I just noticed that the one you showed with the engraving is commemorating the Minute Man Statue in Concord. The actual "Freedom Trail" is entirely within the area fronting Boston Harbor (combination of Boston proper and Charlestown) and does not go out into the distant suburbs. Doesn't necessarily mean anything, just a curious factoid.

 

I can't really help but my assumption regarding the verdigris would be that it is coming from the solder material used to join the handle pieces together.

 

Good point, buying. Although you'd think they would have used silver solder.

I keep shaking my head over the extensive packaging. I can't believe that some faker would have gone to all that trouble.

 

A little poking about reveals that silver solder has copper in it apparently and if the flux is not removed well verdigris will form.

 

Ya know... It just seems so unlikely that your pieces wouldn't be genuine. Wide spread counterfeiting came a bit later. And bicentennial pieces from a regional (albeit fine) jeweler wouldn't be top of any counterfeiter's list. Who'd go to the trouble and expense -- presentation box, ribbon-bound booklet, etc. for something of limited appeal? [Rhetorical.]

Debora

 

Found this question queried and answered in a Wikipedia section I believe.

What is silver solder made out of?
Hard solders are used for brazing, and melt at higher temperatures. Alloys of copper with either zinc or silver are the most common. In silversmithing or jewelry making, special hard solders are used that will pass assay. They contain a high proportion of the metal being soldered and lead is not used in these alloys.

 

I also have a hard time believing the packaging and all would be faked. They would have had to have made a few for that to have been profitable and I find no talk of such faked pieces elsewhere so far.

 

Well that was an interesting internet journey and I have returned thinking I now need a Shreve, Crump & Low Gurgling Cod Pitcher! Time for me to log off here!!!

 

I agree with the comments regarding the effort involved to fake this. It doesn't make economic sense. If anything, I am questioning the silver composition and wondering if there are non-silver elements that are part of the hidden structure. Not so much a fake item as one using lower quality materials. The verdigris is actually kind of a surprise, as you typically don't see that on much older pieces, and it does raise the question of whether manufacturing shortcuts were taken.

When I started writing this today, I also had the two widely different hallmarks, with one having what looked to be a screwy date letter (the 1973 which is more of a 2-letter glyph). I worked through that before posting, and am satisfied that the hallmarks look ok so far, with the difference accounted for in the 1975 change in Britain. I would like to know that the maker mark is accounted for at the assay office there, as that is the only open hallmark issue.

We were going to list these on eBay a few weeks ago when they came in, but really wanted to feel confident about what we had before doing so. If genuine and 100% sterling, we may have a rare find, especially given the lack of any comparables so far!

 

I have been there too!

 

The other thing on the hallmarks that bothered me was the excess silver in the city cartouche. That made the 1975 one difficult to find until today and seemed suspicious, especially since both have some issues in the city cartouche. That's another strange quality issue, for something done so nicely in many other respects.

 

Before I got into the same 'Gurgling Cod" loop, I was getting ready to post about quality of manufacture and fabrication issues, but I see I don't need to go there now.

Keeping in mind that SC&L is usually pretty fastidious about the things they sell, I am now wondering whether these somehow got sold before the defects became clear. Obviously they had to have engaged some firm in Sheffield to make them on their behalf. Curiously, one of the image hits that came up in my search was an exact duplicate of the shape, made of pewter, by Walker and Hall of Sheffield.

 

Yes, that was my impression of them too (SC&L / fastidious) looking at the other items they are involved with. I can believe the verdigris took time to develop, but the hallmark cartouche of the rose is "as manufactured" from what I see. The rose is a nice looking symbol, but it looks like crap filled with silver the way it came out.

On the back page of the booklet, which I didn't include a picture of, is a reference to two companies. One is The Third & Elm Press. I'm guessing they did the booklet. The other is: "The Newport Metals Company, Inc. 128 Mill Street, Newport, Rhode Island". The only metal would be the silver as far as we know. I will try to get some info on them later today (won't have a chance to check for a few hours).