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In this Forum we discuss the silver of the United Kingdom, as well as British Colonial silver and Old Sheffield Plate. Past British - Irish Sterling topics/threads worth a look. |
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In this Forum we discuss the silver of the United Kingdom, as well as British Colonial silver and Old Sheffield Plate. Past British - Irish Sterling topics/threads worth a look. |
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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 British / Irish Sterling
 sideways anchor
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| Author | Topic: sideways anchor |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 |
posted 09-30-2005 05:51 PM
  
I have been contacted by a silverphile who I have had a telephone relationship for years, (yes June knows  ). My telephone friend is very comfortable with her rotary phone and thinks she is too old for a computer but I will keep trying to convince her otherwise (her enthusiasm for silver and history would be great benefit to the forums).Today she called to discuss a cup she has been asked to research (she does reseach without charge). The cup has the Queen Victoria mark above a lion passant, year mark for 1879 (e), sideways anchor and below this is the maker mark GU (which she says is the mark for George Unite). She says the cup seems to have cleaned up better than silver so she is thinking the sideways anchor is the anchor placement for platinum/gold. She believes the sideways anchor mark standard for platinum/gold had been informally used long before the 1973 act. See Tardy's (1985) page 273 for the 1973 act. What say you all? IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 10-01-2005 07:43 PM
Well, it is always problematical to try and identify things from verbal descriptions (could she not at least mail you a drawing of the marks?), and I am not particularly familiar either with Birmingham practices or platinum markings, but since no one else has commented, I will attempt to at least start the discussion by submitting the following (if anything is incorrect, it will certainly generate a correction from someone more knowledgeable): According to Pickford (Jackson III), gold has been marked in Birmingham from 1824 in the same manner as in London; i.e. with a numerical standard from 1844 on, and the sideways anchor was used instead of the leopard's head. He says that platinum was marked after 1973 - and does not indicate that platinum was marked in Birmingham before that date. I am not aware that any assay office would allow or use "informal" marking. If the marks were not all on the same stub when applied, then one could be oriented differently, and (assuming her dating is correct), lacking a platinum assay content number, the piece could well be Sterling. IP: Logged |
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Polly Posts: 1971 |
posted 10-02-2005 01:59 AM
Forgive me if this is a dumb comment, but couldn't she tell by the weight if it's platinum? Platinum is quite heavy, especially compared to silver. IP: Logged |
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salmoned Posts: 336 |
posted 10-02-2005 03:42 AM
Yes, well I would agree by changing 'weight' to 'density'. That would cover gold as well. I suppose not everyone has a ready setup for checking density, though. I use the water submersion technique. I weigh the object in air, then weigh it in water. The difference provides a good approximation of volume (assuming no voids/fill in the piece, of course!). [This message has been edited by salmoned (edited 10-02-2005).] IP: Logged |
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Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 |
posted 10-02-2005 09:56 AM
When she called, I suggested she do the specific gravity test. She said the cup (not hers) was now 60 miles away. She is trying to arrange for the owner to take the cup to a local company/college to have the specific gravity test done. There is a handle but she doesn't recall whether it was solid or hollow handle. She will call me when/if she can get this arranged and has some results. IP: Logged |
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Silver Lyon Posts: 363 |
posted 10-02-2005 12:21 PM
This a normal Birmingham sterling mark. The Assay Office in Birmingham put the anchor stamp sideways on pieces of smaller size, so that if the wicked forger were to come along and transpose those marks onto a large piece (upon which no duty had been paid, for example) it would be immediately apparent. Remember that the sterling marks are only a minimum requirement so that if this piece were (for the sake of argument) 95% pure (too little to be marked Brittania, which is 95.8%) it would still be marked with the sterling 92 1/2% marks. Hope this helps!  IP: Logged |
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