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Author Topic:   Probably a mistake.
fio

Posts: 2
Registered: Oct 2004

iconnumber posted 10-03-2004 03:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for fio     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
[01-1786]

Hi,

Not sure why but I went and bought some antique silver at a fair a few days a go because it looked quite nice (at the time). I say antique, thinking about it it's probably tat. Thing is I don't know anything about silver and so I probably shouldn't have dabbled.

Anyway it got my interested and to be honest I still am a little. However I've done a few web searches for the hallmarks but I'm a bit disheartened as I can't find them anywhere. So they are probably just fakes or something. I can only find the "s" which looks like London 1853? I was wondering if anyone could tell me what they are. I've been told they are silver but I just don't know. They may be plate or something. Would buying a book about silver have all the marks, I mean more then on the web? Anyway, here's the photo's and I hope the items don't bore you too much! (I liked them). Sorry if this post doesn't work out right, trying to figure this out.

fiona

This set of knives

Have these markings

and this knife with a plastic handle



Has these marks



Oh sorry about the rubbish pics.

Thanks for looking!!

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Patrick Vyvyan

Posts: 640
Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 10-04-2004 12:22 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Patrick Vyvyan     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Personally I think your photos are great, especially the close-ups of the marks!

And I like your pieces - the fish-knives, fork and serving knife have a nice art deco look to them. I would guess a date of c.1930 or later, perhaps up to the 1950s.

However, I hope you didn't pay too much for them. The gothic letters EPNS indicate electro-plated nickel silver - ie silverplate.
If this is the only mark, it suggests they were not made by a top manufacturer who would almost certainly have stamped them with his name or mark as well.

Your other knife, with the plastic handle, is probably by a Sheffied manufacturer (hence the "S"), although I don't know who. It too is silverplate. English silver marks are very different.

Books on "pure" silver will not include these marks. And, although there are books on silverplate marks, your knife is probably too recent to be included.

Sorry!

[This message has been edited by Patrick Vyvyan (edited 10-07-2004).]

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fio

Posts: 2
Registered: Oct 2004

iconnumber posted 10-04-2004 09:42 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for fio     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Heh,

That's so funny :-), it does say EPNS hahaha, not sure how I missed that duh. Oh well thanks for the quick response, it's much appreciated. I was thinking thinking art deco when I bought them as I quite like the period style. I have a n art deco telephone I found and repaired. I now use it as my everyday phone! Anyway I think I might get a book on the subject as it seem like fun, reccomendations? Oh and is silver plate just old tat? Or is it it's own entity? I seem to be getting the impression that plate has it's own enthusiasts and market. Oh don't wory about me being ripped off I think for those perticular items I paid about 10p. I have some others I know to be silver and have found the sterling marks I paid a little more for :-).
Thanks
Fiona

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Kimo

Posts: 1627
Registered: Mar 2003

iconnumber posted 10-06-2004 05:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Kimo     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There is silverplate, and then there is silverplate. It is pretty much like any other art form - there is the stuff that is real art and tends to be recognized, collected and priced as such, and then there the is the stuff that is not. Even with sterling or gold items, there are the things that are real works of art and where the bulk of the value is in the artistic rendering rather than the raw material used, and on the other hand there are the things mundane where the value is more in the cost of the raw metal used rather than the artistic value. The more you look at silver and silver plated items, the more you see and appreciate the differences between the two. But, when it comes to collecting, forget what anyone else likes or tells you to collect and follow your heart and eyes to buy what will make you happy.

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Dale

Posts: 2132
Registered: Nov 2002

iconnumber posted 10-07-2004 01:32 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dale     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It looks like you have a set of fish eaters, as the English call them. This is a specialized set for serving and eating fish. Very nice, and once you figure out how they function, very handy to own. Miss Manners provides a lengthy explantion on this topic as on so many silver subjects. My experience has been that over one third of the silver buying public are people who do not collect silver. Rather they cook and eat food; which they want to do up right. So, make a smoked trout with dill sauce main course and use your lovely acquisitions.

[This message has been edited by Dale (edited 10-07-2004).]

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