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Is it Coin or Continental?

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Author	Topic: Is it Coin or Continental?
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 11-30-2004 10:53 PM Found this in a group shop in a box full of silverplate. It's definitely not plate, and it is heavy, over 4oz., and 9" long. The marks are too obscure for me but suggest Europe or American Coin. Note the head with the little A next to it on the mark (odd). Any suggestions? --Doc IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2334 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 11-30-2004 11:40 PM Tardy shows, on page 75, a head that looks to me to be identical, with a 3 to the left, neck high. The head is placed inside the same shaped flower with five petals. The one in Tardy does not have the A and is identifed as Austria-Hungary .800 silver. The Tardy mark is identified as used on large items between 26 May 1886 to 22 April 1922. [This message has been edited by ahwt (edited 11-30-2004).] IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 12-01-2004 11:05 PM Can you give me the full citation for Tardy? IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2334 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 12-02-2004 01:13 AM The copy I have is: TITLE: International Hallmarks on Silver Collected by Tardy by Tardy, I have the reprint from 2000. IP: Logged
blakstone Posts: 493 Registered: Jul 2004	posted 12-02-2004 10:43 PM The mark is indeed the Austro-Hungarian "Dianakopf" or "Diana's Head" mandated on Austrian silver from 1866. (Not 1886: this is a misprint in Tardy, which is pretty sloppy regarding Austrian marks.) The five lobes - and the number 3 on the lower left of the mark, barely visible in your photograph - indicate the Austrian 3rd silver standard of .800 silver. The letter, used inside the mark from 1872, indicated the particular assay office that tested the silver. "A" was the primary assay office in Vienna, "B" was the office in Prague, etc. The "Diana's head" mark was discontinued in 1922 after the dissolution of the Empire in WWI. The maker's mark - "LJ" serif, in an oval - is that of Ladislaus Jarosinski, working in Vienna from 1879. He joined with Jean Vaugoin in 1898 to form the firm of Jarosinski & Vaugoin, but his individual mark was used until 1903. Vaugoin was listed as the sole owner in 1914, so presumably Jarosinski died in the early 20th Century, probably around the time that his individual mark was cancelled. So your spoon is .800 silver (very common for continental flatware) and was made in Vienna, Austria by Ladislaus Jarosinski between 1879 & 1903. Judging from the waisted fiddle shape, I'd say earlier rather than later; ca. 1885. Hope this helps! Ref: Dr. Waltraud Neuwirth, "Lexikon Weiner Gold- und Silberschmiede und Ihre Punzen [Dictionary of Viennese Gold- & Silversmiths & Their Marks]: 1867-1922" Vienna: Neuwirth, 1976, v. 1, p. 273. [This message has been edited by blakstone (edited 12-02-2004).] IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 12-03-2004 04:44 PM An amazing piece of research, Blackstone! Thank you very much. I assume you read German, as the reference book probably wouldn't help me much... On the other hand, I wonder if we see much Austrian or German silver in this country. I once bought a set of 6 forks and spoons on eBay that were billed as plate (probably because they were so heavy) but turned out to be mid 19th century French. The upshot is, it helps to have a modicum of knowledge and know were to turn for help. Thanks again, doc IP: Logged

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