Featured An all new "sniffing" game

Discussion in 'Silver' started by MrNate, Nov 9, 2019.

  1. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    Hi everyone,

    Well the stories don't seem to stop, which is great for me. I've continued my "sniffing" on the internet. Recently I came across a listing with multiple items, listed as silverplate for everything. I noticed two clues that led me to inquire. I will tell you that with this purchase, I didn't even try to ask for photos showing markings, I felt I had enough information to make the purchase "blind"...Price was very reasonable anyways; with shipping I paid $18 for some flatware. So....here's my question, I notice 2 great clues based on these two photos from the listing. One clue should be obvious, one clue maybe not as obvious, what do you think? Once a few people make observations of the photos, I'll show you what I got:

    S2.jpg S1.jpg
     
  2. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    for one...the blue cloth rolling sac......u wrap sterling in those !!
    & the ornate handles in the lower pic...I'd think those were sterling by sight alone.
     
  3. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    Oooh you are good komokwa...About that blue cloth sac.....recognize the name?
     
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  4. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    I can't see it well enuf........
    but growing up in Montreal.....

    upload_2019-11-9_14-1-21.jpeg

    if u didn't have an anti tarnish bag that came with yer sterling.....
    it had no class !!!
     
  5. bercrystal

    bercrystal Well-Known Member

    @komokwa beat me to the punch. :p:p:p

    If I were one of the smarties on this board who could enlarge a portion of a photo I might be able to answer your question, but sadly I am not & I could not read it as hard as I tried. :arghh::arghh:
     
  6. evelyb30

    evelyb30 Well-Known Member

    It's too blurry to read, even if I could see the whole thing. Those spoons look like coin silver, or they're designed to look like pre-Civil Warm (USA) coin silver. The dressing table pieces look like Gorham or someone trying to look like Gorham.
     
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  7. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    The second clue was tricky, because the image isn’t very clear, but I figured out it’s a tarnish cloth/sack for the stieff company. Ironically, there isn’t a single stieff item in the bunch. I’ll get photos up in a few hours, I’m actually on the road to pick up another good score (hopefully).
     
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  8. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    not unusual even for family stuff.....
    After a party...or holiday....stuff got moved around....
    We had more Birks bags than others.....so Peterson & Jensen would end up in those......& a Birks tray...in a plain blue cloth bag.... ect..
     
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  9. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    The help didn't give a rats ass or even know , what went where...and routinely chipped our fine glass ware ......:(:(
     
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  10. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    Sorry for the delay, I was on the road all afternoon...I have another post coming tonight. Today was a tremendous day just from this find alone, and it may be hard to believe but I have another big one to post after this. It felt like Christmas when I opened up the box and realized that I got more than I was expecting, by a lot. Photos photos photos:

    IMG_2574.JPG IMG_2575.JPG IMG_2576.JPG IMG_2577.JPG IMG_2578.JPG IMG_2579.JPG
     
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  11. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    I would have jumped all over this too! I’ve certainly seen a bunch of silver plate in anti tarnish cloth but this stuff looks good. One on top looks like it may be the basket of flowers pattern. Pretty desirable pattern. Photos too blurry to tell though. The forks look heavy?

    Found a Reed and Barton bowl I’ve been looking at reduced from $100 to $30 two days ago. Local listing. Couldn’t find the model number listed online but felt good enough about it to take a shot. Paid lady $5 shipping instead of driving an hour each way. Got it next day and it weighed in at 171g! Pretty happy with that one.
     
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  12. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

  13. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    You're on a roll, eh, Nate?

    I'm curious - there are 6 pieces shown in the first picture of this thread that are not shown in the latest pictures that end with the total weight. Did they turn out to be plated?
     
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  14. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    That's correct, very obvious plated marks on the other items. They kind of blend in with the other larger items. I'm intrigued by a few of the items:

    Most of the larger spoons are Canfield Bro & Co, but also stamped sterling on them. My quick research only shows canfield flatware coin silver examples, so I want to research further.

    The last photo showing the KIRK mark is the most interesting marking (4 spoons). My initial research shows that these were made in 1824 based on the book the story of the house of Kirk.
     
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  15. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    Canfield Bro & Co were in Baltimore, one of the earliest places to adopt the sterling standard on this side of the pond. Did those examples actually say "coin" on them or was that just how the seller described them?

    Again on Kirk - Baltimore! I found that mark in Rainwater. The history of the silver makers of Baltimore is fascinating.
     
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  16. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    Oh! I wanted to ask - what are the marks on the 3 oddball pieces? Knife, button hook? and file? The handle designs resemble designs of the early 1890's.
     
  17. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    I haven't looked closely at those yet, I think they are all just generic "sterling" marks as far as I can tell.
     
  18. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    Fair enough. When you get a chance.
     
  19. MrNate

    MrNate Well-Known Member

    For canfield stuff, I just did a quick search online where people are listing them as coin, but I'm not aware of any items actually being stamped coin. I have two different Canfield marks: here's a few more photos:

    IMG_2599.JPG IMG_2600.JPG
     
  20. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    Okay - I just pulled up the article on Baltimore assay and marks and the period covered ends at approximately 1830 (which was just about the time that Ira and William Canfield established Canfield and Brother. The silver fineness before 1830 falls into the category we today refer to as "coin." (although at 91.7% it's higher than generic coin and lower than the sterling standard.)

    Here's the article: https://www.sterlingflatwarefashions.com/Msc/BaltimoreAssayMks.html


    If you don't want to test the ones that don't say sterling now, you'd be safe calling them coin. But if at some point you decide to sell, you really should test them rather than leave money on the table.
     
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