Featured Help Id Silver plaque with coat of arms engraved

Wow I'm very amazed from the expertise of you all.
Ok this evening I'll clean the silver and I'll take macro photos to the marks.
Thanks see you later

 

My Tanit pendant, with fish head and bird arms. Tanit is always depicted with a full, triangular skirt.
It is marked for Tunisia, .900 silver, 1856-1905.



The head is also star shaped, Tanit was queen of the heavens as well, related to the Middle Eastern Goddess Astarte/Ishtar/Esther.
The charms at the bottom are the usual Berber protective hamsas and moon symbols. Both are ancient symbols, which were adopted as Islamic and Jewish symbols.

 

Very nice and very interesting! I get these things mixed up, but will try to get it.

 

Symbols can be complicated.
What always fascinates me is that there is so much old symbolism hiding beneath the surface of mainstream religions and culture.
I'm sure @Bronwen shares this fascination, although her focus is slightly different than mine.

 

Great find, @i need help -- How did you do that?

 

Thank you, @Figtree3,
More luck and persistence than anything else.

 

The secret of the great treasure hunter?

 

The secret is out!

 

But we still don't know what it is.

 

Hello,
i have cleaned the silver and i took some macro photos,
wishing that can help more
Thanks

Gianluca

 

Welcome Gianluca and congratulations to the members who have done such wonderful research.

 

So I am trying to figure the best I can, it’s difficult to compare, but I don’t know what to make of it, so I await other input from someone who will know more.
But what a great find you’ve made!

 

Hello Gianluca. I think it is the Tripoli mark, a bit worn, and probably struck with a worn punch to begin with.
There is a slight crescent shape in the centre, for the ship, and triangular shapes on top of that for the sails.
This is the Tripoli mark from the Catawiki listing, cropped and slightly tweaked. It could be from a different period, with some differences, but may help to discern the features in your mark:

 

Hello
Thanks for the info.
One question only please.
Can we date it into the period of the first Italian occupation in Lybia, or around the second one instead ?
Thanks

 

In the 925 link they speculate this was fashioned after the seal. I don’t know.

 

I run in to Tanit in a very different form.


On the coinage of Carthage, looking very much like Persephone on the coinage of Lokris Opuntia and some other cities of Magna Graecia.


For further confusion, look up coins with Kore Soteira (another way of indicating Persephone), Arethusa and Kallisto.

 

I don’t know if the bird design is from a certain time period, region, or just someone’s liking, but I found this which says mid- century.

 

http://www.925-1000.com/b_eudel_DBAN1906.html
Having trouble to navigate this digital book on my cell phone (and it’s in French)
There are some other reference books on 925.
Published in 1903, so maybe not even useful.

 

Hello

I was considering the ooption to resell it in the next future.
Since the moment that I've cleaned it, do you think that the related worth could decrease, or not?

 

I don’t think that harms the value, I would really think the value is in the meaning and possible age and possible rarity of this. I would give every effort to pin down the age of this, as it could help a value. As AnyJewlery said there is limited documentation on these markings. Have you tested the purity?