| Topics on this page: AMERICAN COIN SILVER - ENGLISH SILVER - CONTINENTAL SILVER - AMERICAN STERLING SILVER - ORIENTAL & MIDDLE EASTERN SILVER |
AMERICAN COIN SILVER
Before the discovery and commercial mining of silver in America, old coinage was the main source, hence the term. As the coins, brought in by migrants from around the world, varied in purity so did coin Silver.
Silver in the early American colonies largely followed the English standard of sterling, even though there was no established means of enforcing it. Tests made on 17th and 18th century American silver returned a standard up to and sometimes over the sterling standard. The case in New York was different as it was colonised by the Dutch, who had 2-3 standards of purity, depending on the period, but generally varied between 80% to 95% . This created a great divergence in the purity of silver brought there. As there was no system of hallmarking such as that imposed in England, or Holland, American silversmiths would stamp their wares with their initials or their whole name in a cartouche, occassionally accompanied with a device, such as an eagle, flower, kings head, etc. There was, nevertheless, no indication or guarantee of purity.
After the Revolutionary War, however, the US Mint fixed the standard for coins in 1792 at 89.2% fine and in 1837 it was raised to 90% fine. The difference between the two standards led to the stamping of silver made in America with various symbols of purity: COIN, PURE COIN, DOLLAR, DOLLARS, STANDARD, PREMIUM and even STERLING. These marks would usually be accompanied with a stamp of the makers name or initials. There were also pseudomarks, marks closely resembling English hallmarks (not to delude, I am sure), occassionally with the letters D, B, G, C etc. What these letters stood for no one is sure, if anything. Maybe they were the silversmithÕs surname initials, though some have ventured Dollar, Best, Genuine and Coin, consecutively. Resarch as to the identity of these silversmiths is still underway.
Maker or Retailer.
As the 19th century progressed the demand for silver led to an explosion of silversmiths shops catering to this need in cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Charleston. Often, these shops were just retailers who would also stamp their names (and addresses). In this case the manufacturer would add just his initials in a small cartouche alongside the reatilers name. Most of these manufacturers are identifiable, such as AC in a diamond for Albert Coles, W&H for Wood and Hughes, G.W&H for Gale, Wood and Hughes, and so on.
Who are these guys.
This is where the pseudomarks have caused problems, especially when seen in conjunction with silversmiths who have known to have produced large amounts of silver. Are these pseudomarks additional marks of the silversmith whose name accompanies them or are they the marks of , as yet, undiscoverd silversmiths. This debate gets heated in the Southern States, if a collector has a good, for instance, Charleston silversmith stamped alonside an unidentified mark. Was the article made in Charleston, made elsewhere but sold in Charleston, never ever saw Charleston because the combination of the name and pseudomarks may refer to another unidentified maker?
Reference Books:
Kovel's American Silver Marks by Raplh & Terry Kovel
American Silversmiths and Their Marks by Stephen Guernsey Cook Ensko.
ENGLISH SILVER, INCLUDING SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
All silver wrought in England, Scotland and Ireland had to bear the following marks:
1. The town mark. This was city in which the article was assayed, and was usually the arms of that particular city. In London it was the Leopards Head, sometimes crowned. Before the establishment of the regional assay offices, it was also the assay mark, which is why it is struck alonside the city mark, together with the Lion Passant (the accepted assay mark) in some of the early regional offices such as Chester, Newcastle and York as an additional guarantee mark. In 1696-1720, the Sterling Standard was raised to the Brittania Standard of 98.5% to counter the melting of sterling coinage. To indicate this higher standard the Leopards Head was replaced by the Lions Head erased.
2. The assay mark. This is the lion passant, also crowned at times, guaranteeing the silver to be of Sterling Standard, 92.5% pure. When, in 1696 -1720, the Brittania Standard was used the assay mark was the figure of Brittania showing the higher standard of 98.5%. In Scotland the Assay Mark was the initials of the Deacon or Assay Master, which was replaced by the Thistle in 1759. In Dublin, it was the Crowned Harp which signified the Sterling Standard.
3. The Date Letter. A letter of the alphabet was assigned to each successive year over a 20-25 year period, ommitting some of the misleading letters, such as J, U and Y as they could be confused with I and V. At the end of one period a new cycle of letters began with either a different script or cartouche shape.
4.The Makers Mark. Originally they were symbols which were gradually replaced by initials in the 17th century. In 1696-1720, during the Brittania period, the first two letters of the surname were used. Occassionally the makers marks were adorned with symbols, such as a bird or mullet. A crown above the initials, though not compulsory, denotes a Royal silversmith.
5.The Duty Mark. Although duty was imposed on manufactured silver since 1720 it was not till 1784 that a mark was introduced to show it. That mark was a profile of the reigning sovereign, commonly known as the Sovereign's Head. Use of this mark was discontinued in 1890, with the abolition of duty.
For further research, city marks, provincial marks and makers marks please check the bibliography.
Ref. Books:
1. Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks of England, Scotland & Ireland by Ian Pickford.
2. Guide to Marks of Origin on British & Irish Plate by F. Bradbury. *
3. The Price Guide to Antique Silver by Peter Waldron **
*The Plate referred to here is the early term for Sterling. A handy pocker guide.
** Peter Waldron is the head of the Silver Dept of Sotheby's, London. An excellent book.
CONTINENTAL SILVER
The Continent comprises dozens of nations with widely varying assaying and hallmarking laws and standards. It is too large a topic to cover accurately and comprehensively in a short essay. Essentially, most Continental countries have 2-3 Standards of purity ranging from 0.950 (95%) down to 0.750 (75%). The different standards are generally indicated with the figure 1 or the letter A on the assay mark for the High or 1st Standard, 2 or B for the next, etc. Alternately, the standard could be stamped in decimal form such as 916H or 830S. Russia has a unique system of grading where the number 84 denotes a fineness of 0.875, 88 is 0.916, and so on.
Most books are specialised, pertaining to the country of publication and usually in that country's language. The book I recommend is a useful guide and pretty comprehensive introduction to a complicated and, often, confusing subject.
Ref Books: International Hallmarks on Silver, collected by Tardy.
AMERICAN STERLING SILVER
American silver is, more or less, divdided into two camps, as far as collectors are concerned, which is why I have formed the two categories: American Sterling and Coin Silver. The Sterling Standard was established by federal law in 1868 under pressure from a group of leading silversmiths, such as Tiffany, who had been using sterling since their entrance to the silver market in 1851.
Sterling is a metal alloy containing about 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper or other base metals. Lowering the quantity of silver, say to 90%or lower, with the commensurate increase in the base metals, as in Coin Silver or even down to 80%, as in some continental countries, renders the final product harder and more resilient to the wear and tear of everyday use. Increasing the quantity of silver to 95% or higher has the effect of making the final product softer and more malleable. It is easier to work with and hence more amenable to more demanding manufacturing processes as chasing, engraving and moulding. The 95% Standard was used by the French and some American silversmiths such as Gorham for their Martele line. A higher standard, 95.84%, was also adopted by Gorham for their Martele line. In England this standard is termed the Brittania standrad and was first adopted in london in 1696 to counter the melting down of coinage. After 1720 that standard was no longer compulsory, though silversmiths would occassionaly use that standard for special lines.
American Sterling is variously marked, apart from the makers mark:
| (a) | (b) | (c) | (d) | (e) | (f) |
| English Sterling 925-1000 |
Sterling Silver 925-1000 |
Sterling | 925/1000 | 11 oz | 11-2 |
Mark (a) was used by Tiffany before the steling standard was adpted to assure the prospective buyer that he was being offered real sterling and not the lower standard being utilised by the majority of other american silversmiths of that period. Marks (b), (c) and (d) have been used by most silversmiths up to the present day. Mark (e) and (d) were used by the Baltimore silversmiths at the end of the 19th century. It was the only city in America that had an assay office, established in 1814 and it set the standard for silver at 11oz pure silver per 12 oz Troy alloy. This computes to 91.7% pure silver, which was above the national requirement at that time. Kirk used the 11 oz mark up to 1880 even though his silver, certainly after 1868, was of sterling standard. Using this numeric system, sterling silver would have 11 oz 2 pennyweights of pure silver, hence the 11-2 mark, used by Warner after 1868.
Further reading:
Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufactures by Dorothy t Rainwater
Tiffany Sailver by Charles & Mary Carpenter
Martele: Gorham's Art Nouveau Silver by Larry J Pristo.
ORIENTAL & MIDDLE EASTERN SILVER
I am confining this topic to just my area of expertise, India, China & Japan, and within this subset I am forming two further categories: Colonial and Post-Colonial. Although Japan remained unscathed, both China and India experienced a period of colonisation by England which had a dramatic effect on their domestic silver production, creating the cultural periods, namely Indian Colonial and Chinese Export.
Indian Colonial: Indian Colonial Silver by Wynyard Wilkinson
Post Colonial Indian Silver. Indian Silver by Wynyard Wilkinson
Chinese Export.
Late Chinese Export 2 Books in total
Japanese Silver.