Need some expert help with Hallmarks

Hi again everyone!

I'm considering purchasing an item, and the person has listed it as silver plate, but I'm curious that it may actually be sterling silver. The risk of being wrong isn't cheap...This is a representation of the marks, which I know to be two marks of London Assay Office and George III. So...here's my question:

What are the odds that this is silver plate or sterling silver? Should I be concerned that there is no lion passant? Is there anything else I should consider?

 

Hello MrNate..do you have a picture of the item...these marks seem to be taken from reference, not from item ....any date mark ??...regards ..pewter2

 

Hi Pewter2,

I can't post the photo, because it is available online (as much as I like everyone on here, it's possible for someone to reverse image search and find the item I'm considering for purchase). This is basically identical to what is on the piece, and unfortunately it's all I have to go off of. There could potentially be other marks on the piece, but none that are visible to me. No date mark that I can see, and the photo of the marks shows a pretty good portion of the bottom of the item, so I assume they aren't there.

 

Are the marks formed in a 4 pointed square format....
X

X X.
possibly makers mark in centre...pewter2
X

 

cant edit to show what i mean...........X
................................................X.........X
.....................................................X.................. disregard dots

 

The way I showed the representation is exactly how they appear on the item. They are not in a 4 pointed square, they are 1, 2, 3, right next to each other. The marks seem to correspond with the time period of pre 1820's but i'm not sure about more than that.

 

What we would expect to see is town mark, lion passant regardant, date letter and monarchs head,plus makers mark...what we see above are representative punches for an item around 1800 to 1820 due to shape of shield and not those actually on item, and as such would be unable to determine exact marks on item and the authenticity of item. Would love to have been of further help....regards.....pewter2
PS. does the item consist of more than one piece, IE, loose or hinged lid , and if so should have appropriate hallmarks.....p2

 

Something else to consider is the fact that Elkington didn't invent the silver electroplating process until 1840 and the only alternative to sterling silver was Old Sheffield plate, (OSP/fused plate).....just to confuse things further. I have also checked reference for Provincial silversmiths who used a variety of genuine looking punches , but unable to find anything so marked....pewter2

 

Thank you very much for the effort, I contacted the seller to see if there are any other marks they could show me. If they reply I’ll follow up tomorrow. This items keeping me up! I just find it odd that a piece would have those three marks.

 

I want this to be real ... gut instinct .poss read marks wrong.. let me know how you go..regards....pewter2

 

without a silver standard mark.......I'd venture it's plated...

 

yes Komokwa ...agree....pewter2

 

As much as I hate using the term possible "duty dodger"...if so, best case scenario it may be silver, but would always have to be referred to as white metal if sold ..otherwise ...disappointment. Would have been easier with pic of item and actual marks . If it proves to be silver and needed to be authenticated as such , the London assay office would either destroy item if deemed fake marks or re assay item and place today's hallmarks on it and deform existing marks ( correct me if I am wrong , ..????) because it may be the former, without checking reference I may be wrong...... regards...pewter2

 

I suspect the item is an out and out fake.

The OP's paranoia may prevent any useful answer. There is simply not enough information to be sure. On what information there is, it's a fake of some sort. If it seems very cheap there may be a good reason for this.

 

Agree.

 

Thank you for all the input, here’s photos of the actual items:

 

Wow! I buy them if they weren't too pricey. Looks a lot like Vienna Secession designs.
Cheers
Stephen

 

Looks more mid Victorian than Georgian. Certainly a striking design but those marks are not official British by any means. But they are not obvious pseudo-marks either.
I'd buy it at the right price but only with a come back if it was not silver at all.

 

Hi,
I love the design on those. I would give them house room in a minute.
greg