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posted 01-13-2009 12:06 PM            

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Probably paid too much but I really like scroll backs especially with bright cut engraving. Now for the question, I have a number of Beal items so know the Beal name mark quite well but the additional mark I have never seen. The additional mark appears to be a Pine tree and resembles the 'Pine tree shilling' type of pine tree. Does anyone know of a reference that includes the tree with the Beal name mark.

Thanks for any input.

In case you have never seen a Pine tree shilling here is a photo of one. No I do not have one as 'the fairest of them all' would have thrown me out into the cold If I spent that much for an old coin.

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posted 01-13-2009 04:51 PM            

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McGrew shows Beal's tree on page 131. He also makes the cryptic remark that it is a century to late to be related to the Pine Tree Shilling of Massachusetts.

[This message has been edited by ahwt (edited 01-13-2009).]

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posted 01-13-2009 05:03 PM            

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Kane records two tablespoons -- one c 1795 with two pine tree marks in the Witherthur photo archive and one c 1785 with a single tree (species unspecified) at Yale. The first is monogramed TE, the second EW.

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posted 01-13-2009 05:34 PM            

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I do not have this reference and can not find a copy of it. Is it available anywhere that anyone knows of. Thank you.

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posted 01-13-2009 06:01 PM            

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google "isbn 0-89467-077-8" or try amazon -- various copies offered at well below the original price.

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posted 01-13-2009 06:05 PM            

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If you can get a good photo WEV can put it on his site. You will then have your reference.

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posted 01-13-2009 06:46 PM            

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Wev
I have the Kane reference. I was asking about the McGrew reference.

[This message has been edited by argentum1 (edited 01-13-2009).]

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posted 01-13-2009 09:13 PM            

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John McGrew's book Manufacturers' Marks on American Coin Silver was advertised in Silver Magazine. I think you have to order directly from the author.

[This message has been edited by ahwt (edited 01-13-2009).]

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posted 01-14-2009 09:12 AM            

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ahwt

Thank you for the info. I have contacted Silver Magazine and received a reply this AM. I will be sending payment today to add another useful reference. Now I have to add another shelf.

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posted 01-14-2009 06:23 PM            

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This post reminds me that my very first coin silver spoon was a Caleb Beal spoon with the same decorated bowl as yours and marked with Beal's initial mark.

I was marked for a dollar and they gave me 10% off. The mark cartouche was filled with grime and it took much soaking and light brushing to see the CB mark.

Caleb Beal

It is a great example of his work. I believe there is a similar spoon in the Cleaveland Museum (French Collection).

Thanks for the memory.

Fred

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posted 01-18-2009 02:55 PM            

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A more in-focus image of the mark

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posted 12-02-2025 02:27 PM            

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argentum1 - did you ever find any other examples with the pine tree mark? I recently purchased a 5" spoon with the mark (just pine tree mark) and assume it is by Caleb Beal. I tried to look up the spoons mentioned in Kanes book at Winterthur and Yale, but was unable to find them... or any others. Wondering if the pine tree mark is meant to signify something or if it was used by a journeyman working for Beal.

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posted 12-03-2025 08:15 AM            

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Above is some information from Catherine Hollan’s book on Picture Back spoons. She came up with a catchy title for this one: “It’s the Birds and the Bees and the Flowers and the Sheaves: Picture Back on American Silver.
I did not realize that American silversmiths had produced such a variety of images for picture back spoons until I read her book. This book is an excellent source for all American picture back spoons and is published in an easy to read size. I included an image of the table of contents to show the breath of the picture backs examined in the book.

You made a great find in your purchase of one of Caleb Beal’s spoons.

The pine tree as you can see from the last picture was also the image used on a spoon made by Cary Cunn, an American silversmith. The tall pine tree is considered by some as the first American cash crop as the earliest immigrants quickly discovered that these trees were in demand by ship builders in England. Eric Rutlow in his book American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation devotes some of his book on this early American resource. It may be that someone in Beals' family had personal experience with the sale of these trees and that is why he used it as a symbol for his works.

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posted 12-03-2025 10:07 AM            

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ahwt - thank you very much for posting this information and pics. Going to have to get Catherine Hollans new book. I feel fortunate to have come across this spoon as my collecting focus is early New England/Boston silver.

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All times are ET