Featured Silver beaker marks - tested 980 silver

Hi all

Have this beaker and the only part of the mark I can make out is SILVER - I recently had it tested and it tested as 980 silver - and it weighs a whopping 116.7gms.

The only country I could find that did/does 980 silver is Mexico but I couldn't find a markers mark that bore any resemblance - using silvercollection.it and 925-1000 websites and google lens.

The base has hammer marks and on the inside you can see a join, but it can't be seen on the outside.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Hmmm . It doesnt look like silver to me . Im interested to see what others say .

 

Thanks, it was tested in a bullion dealer's machine, so I believe it is.

 

Didn’t England have a 980 silver alloy with a proprietary name they used a bit? I can’t think of it off the top of my head. Maybe I have the purity wrong because a super quick google doesn’t find it either.

I think I’ve seen 980 used in Japan but don’t hold me to it.

If you forced me to guess an origin, for some reason that mark makes me think Israel. I have zero idea if they used 980 though and I can’t really explain why it that’s what pops onto my mind.

It doesn’t not look like silver to me. If I saw the photos with no context I wouldn’t automatically assume it was but I also wouldn’t assume it’s not.

 

Thanks J Dagger - There is a British purity of 950 called Britannia - might be what you are thinking of. I will check out the others, but Mexico was the only one that came up when I googled "countries that use 980 silver" but I can see Israel more than Japan being a possibility.

 

J Dagger you are correct - Japan uses 980 but even in the Taisho period (1912-24) they use characters rather than letters.

 

I get the feeling this beaker pre-dates the state of Israel. It could be a 'kiddush cup' though, although there is nothing to make it recognizably Jewish.

 

Agreed Any Jewelry, I've been looking at kiddush cups, but they all seem more ornate. I wonder if this was unfinished - ie not carved/etched.

 

Asian countries used "silver" I believe . I keep trying to make out the word above that but no haps. What are the measurements ? I would focus more on the mark than the 980 thing.

 

The 'SILVER' mark was used in a lot of (former) British colonies, some of which are in Asia.
Dory lives in New Zealand, a former British colony, but this doesn't strike me as a New Zealand item or mark.

I did consider a lassi cup at first. But I expect 980 silver lassi cups to be more smoothly finished, and usually decorated as well.

 

I swear there was a different purity with a proprietary name used in England in the 20th century. I am pretty sure it was .980 too. I know because I had a piece with the name on it I believe. It was an alloy more resistant to tarnish than others. That was the reason they used it for a bit from what I recall reading. I’m familiar with the .950/Britannia standard, I’m thinking of a different one.

Japan did use decimal/numerical marks quite a bit. I’ve owned and/or handled countless pieces bearing them. They may have used character marks on domestic silver and they may have been on some export silver but they definitely also used numerical purity marks. There is almost never a literal decimal point (.) which is why I’m using numerical rather than decimal there.

 

Suspect you're thinking of 'Argentium', which came out in the 1990s, typically either .935 or .960 fineness.

Britannia standard is .958 fineness...

~Cheryl

 

I recall it being a high purity relative to sterling so must have been .960 and not .980. I wonder if there were different proprietary names companies used other than Argentium because that’s not ringing a bell for the piece I’m thinking of. Maybe I’ll track it down someday and circle back here.

 

what size is it......
it sure doesn't seem like anything special......so I'm with Davey on this one..

 

Stands approx 10cm high, with a 7cm diameter at the top tapering to a 5cm base. I know - which makes it strange it's made of high purity silver - you'd think they'd take more care

 

Stands approx 10cm high, with a 7cm diameter at the top tapering to a 5cm base.