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 Mid-19 century Whiting?
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| Author | Topic: Mid-19 century Whiting? |
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brgrt Posts: 6 |
posted 12-24-2018 11:15 AM
  
This piece has no hallmarks, but a sticker from the dealer says: “Whiting. Prior to 1856.” An acid test revealed the piece is sterling, but the test wasn’t fine enough to distinguish between coin silver (900) or 925. (A mid-19th century piece without a sterling mark would be coin silver.) What are the chances that this is a 19th century Whiting bowl? IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 12-24-2018 11:36 AM
Welcome.
quote: IP: Logged |
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brgrt Posts: 6 |
posted 12-24-2018 11:45 AM
I inherited a lot of antique sterling and am trying to identify hallmarks and provenance to see what I have. Tamara IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 |
posted 12-24-2018 11:55 AM
Nice inheritance. We really would like to know more about You, Why knowing is important and your interest in silver (for example, if you collect, then what do you collect?) Don't use acid.
quote: IP: Logged |
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brgrt Posts: 6 |
posted 12-24-2018 12:17 PM
My mother was a silver dealer and she left the silver to us kids, and we're looking to sell it. I have a great fondness for silver; every piece is a work of art and it pains me that demand is down, and as a result many of these wonderful pieces will be sold for melt. Since trying to identify my pieces, I've gained a greater appreciation for silver, but bottom line, they will be sold. IP: Logged |
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brgrt Posts: 6 |
posted 12-24-2018 12:38 PM
I signed up for this forum because you are silver experts, and the only ones who might shed light on interesting and challenging pieces. IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 12-25-2018 10:38 AM
Hi Brgrt. It sounds like you and your siblings have inherited many nice things. I hope that before you decide to sell everything that you pick out some things to keep as a remembrance of your mother. If you go back and re-read the Guidelines for posting on the Forum you will recall that one of the very few rules of the Forum is to not ask for information that will be used to help sell something. It describes the reasons for this. I would urge you to go to one of the three major associations of professional appraisers and find a professional appraiser in your area that specializes in antique and vintage silver and engage their services. These three organizations are the "International Society of Appraisers", the "American Society of Appraisers", and the "Appraisers Association of America". To give you a bit of a head start you should know that acid testing of silver is unrealible. The reason is the acid sits on the surface of the object and therefore is only testing what is on the surface of the object, so silver plating can test as silver. It cannot get down into the metal underneath the silver unless one cuts down into the metal with a saw or file so the acid can get down in there and cutting on an antique or vintage object is a bad idea and I would strongly recommend against it. What you will want to do is to find a jeweler or someone with an Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer. You would not likely want to buy one for yourself unless you are a full time career dealer since they cost several thousand dollars. These things look like radar guns and they will tell you the exact composition of metal objects. Some other things to consider is that it is not uncommon for antiques dealers to mis-identify things if they are not experts in a subject so any handwritten paper tags or labels on things should be verified. And finally, silver normally is well marked so when one finds something that appears to be silver with no markings the starting point is an assumption that it is not solid silver, but rather silver plated, or solid nickel, or solid pewter, or such. Best regards, Kimo, Contributing Editor, SSF IP: Logged |
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brgrt Posts: 6 |
posted 12-25-2018 11:09 AM
Thanks, Kimo, for your informative reply. I'm sorry that SSF will not accept me as a member. Tamara IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 12-26-2018 08:25 AM
Hi Tamara. That is not what I said. We welcome you and everyone as a member but not for the purpose of doing pre-sale research. If you have a personal collection of silver that you are not intending to sell then this is the place to be. If you would like to do research here by using the search function and reading old posts then that is fine as well. This is not a typical forum that one finds on the internet. This is simply a place where people who like or collect silver for their personal enjoyment and who wish to discuss it can get together. We welcome sellers and dealers, but only on the basis of their wishing to discuss their personal collections and love of silver and not their commercial interest which is the role of professional appraisers. Best regards, Kimo [This message has been edited by Kimo (edited 12-26-2018).] IP: Logged |
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