Featured Help with marks on a cup

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the quality of the photo (i didn't take it) but this is all I have to go on for a few days. Can anyone help with the mark on the top edge of this cup?

 

I'd guess Hungarian but you need to see the tiny numeral below the figure for fineness

 

Thank you terry, I took a gamble on this one and a few other items. I paid for them without knowing what they're made of and they will arrive on Monday. I just can't wait to figure it out. As soon as I saw this image I was hopeful and took the gamble. I think the letters to the right are V.P. but it's not a great image so hard to tell.

 

It is the Austro-Hungarian mark for .800 silver, 1886-1922. The fineness is indicated by both the numeral and the shape of the cartouche.
The Austro-Hungarian empire covered a large chunk of Central Europe, including Hungary, as terry said. But it could have been made in one of the other countries or regions of the empire.

 

Thank you for that info, that’s great news for me to hear. You would have laughed at my tenacity to figure out if the item has marks. The seller kept telling me “there’s no marks anywhere on the piece” and I kept politely saying “that’s fine, could you send me photos of the bottom and around the sides.” Once the seller finally acquiesced to my request I thought I had a winner. But it’s always the tone of a piece that gets the inquiry started. I’m hoping to have a similar story today (hopefully) about another online purchase.

 

I know sellers like that. I have an antique Algerian Berber pendant which the seller insisted was unmarked (and Persian). I saw from his photos that the dangles had indentations which looked like marks. And when I got it, there were marks on every dangle and on the main pendant. Just nothing on the back, where most people look.

 

Wow, I’m in love with all the colors on that piece

 

That is typical of Kabyle Berber jewellery. The coral came from Italy. That part of North Africa has a long history of trade with Italy, which is just on the other side of the Mediterranean.

 

Will be nice to see the mark when cleaned up...

AJ - suspect you took the '1886' from Tardy, since it's a misprint there, the start date for those Diana-head marks would be 1866 (actually 1867 as Austro-Hungarian), with use continued in Hungary after 1922 until 1937, and from 1872 on, there should be town letter as well a standard number.

I think it's most likely the .800 cinquefoil cartouche too, but to my eye it looks a bit wonky in the pic (maybe just the placement so close to the rim), perhaps a slight possibility it's the .950 sexfoil with the one clipped lobe - a better pic of the cleaned mark should confirm the shape and other details...

https://www.925-1000.com/Faustria_02.html

~Cheryl

 

I did, and thanks for letting us know.

 

The correct date is shown under 'Hungary' - my Tardy is a 1985 edition, don't know if they finally corrected the error in later editions...

~Cheryl

 

You are always a wealth of knowledge, thank you Cheryl (and Any Jewelry of course)

 

I don't know, my English one is also 1985. Curiously my French one, 8th edition, no date, but probably older, has 1866 as starting year for the Diana marks.

I should use my French one which has clearer print, but it is almost falling apart. I couldn't find a replacement at the time, so I bought the English one.

 

Hmmm - perhaps a typo when the translation to English was done?

~Cheryl

 

I just found the date of my French edition, on the last page. It is 1968, so yes, I would think a translation typo.

 

Most of my reference books have little notes added regarding errors or omissions, along with tiny post-it tabs marking pieces I own or want to own...

~Cheryl

 

I added the correct date in a soft pencil for my own use, a future owner can erase it.

 

And at that moment my jaw dropped when I went to see how much a used tardy book would run me....

 

Wait for the next one. I had to wait some time before I found one in a price range I thought acceptable.

 

I finally got it in the mail, I believe it's the 800 fineness mark. It has the initials VN next to it. I'll try to get a good photo tomorrow, just got bogged down with a couple other "to do's"