Featured This one got away, but it's a good chance to test your skills

Here's the listing, it was online recently for $200. Unfortunately by the time I saw it someone was already making the deal. Listed as Nakens silverware set, 1952 sterling silver set. I can tell you that I would have purchased it without anymore photos. Test your skills, could you do the same?

 

Never assume that the label on the box was the maker of what's inside.

And I can identify the pattern (and therefore the actual maker and silver fineness) of the largest number of pieces of the content) so I'll keep the secret for a while.

 

Yes, yes, yes! Do you know the maker already? if you do..shhhh!

 

Even if a different maker, would think $200 for a sterling set this large would be a good deal. Where are you finding these things? If this was on my local CL it would be gone within seconds.

No idea about the maker though, so will check back!

 

After looking on google I would go for it, I think I found the maker, not sure if I have the pattern correct

 

Thanks to those who tried to look. By the way, silverqueen has a nice quick reference, certainly a hit or miss graphic, but give it a shot

https://www.silverqueen.com/Info/Guide

 

It is on that graphic, if that's any help.

 

Pics are so fuzzy (or am I just blind?), but believe I recognize the patterns on the stray stack of forks and the ladle, but those two spoons just don't show near enough (the pattern for the bulk of it was an immediate ID for this old silver junkie). The Naken's boxes used to sell well for me too...

~Cheryl

 

Oh I didn't try to ID the stray ones. For me, if I get to buy a set like this (of course I didn't) it's actually more fun to not know what the extras are in the case. It's such a bonus when there's more sterling in the box I wasn't anticipating. I actually was able to talk to the seller; a bunch of people contacted him when he listed it, and that seemed really suspicious especially when people started offering him more than his asking price. We had a real discussion for awhile and I made another offer but made it very clear that there was no pressure from me and to let me know. I don't think I'll get them, sadly it usually goes like this:

1. Seller looks at these HUGE prices online and thinks they have hit the lottery
2. Seller reposts the set at a ridiculous price, no one buys
3. Seller decides to take it to a local pawn shop, gets offered a ridiculously low price
4. Seller finally puts it back on the market at a reasonable price, but 2 months later..

 

Good luck, may still pan out...

~Cheryl

 

thanks for the link Mr Nate

 

yes yes! silver Queen has and buys silver, discontinued serving pieces and dinner wares. They have jewelry and porcelain figurines. I always check their prices b4 selling. Also I’m scared to post pics of my queries! And I have quite a few unknowns. Please don’t blast me if I do the pics wrong. Is there a direction guide on how to post pics correctly? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Welcome, Msalicia! We'd love to see your finds and help you out with your unknowns. Here's a quick explanation for starting a thread and posting pictures.

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/posting-a-thread-and-uploading-pictures.15990/

In case you use a phone camera to take your pictures, the usual recommendation is to email the image to yourself, choosing the medium option so it will be resized, save to your image file and then follow the instructions above. If you run into any difficulties, just ask! Lots of new members have trouble with pictures, so don't feel embarrassed! We were all new once!

 

Thanks! Can't have too many reference sources!

 

It's out there...every day it's out there. This one hurts too (they all hurt):

They were listed as a set of 41 for $50 (with only the first photo, obviously not the second one). I'm often asking for additional photos or the name of the maker to start the conversation. I asked, and didn't hear anything for a few days. Then I get a message informing me that the seller added some more pictures and price went up after a bit more research (repriced at $1000 for the set)....

 

So, Nate - is it time to reveal the maker and pattern of the contents in the box that started this thread off? I wouldn't want any one to think that the 1950'd pattern you just showed us as another example of what you have experienced was somehow hiding in that box.

 

Ah yes of course. Foolishly I sometimes assume that everyone connected the dots in the same manner as the veterans on the forum. The set initially listed appears to be the pattern Towle Old Colonial. For me, the point of focus that allows me to quickly find the pattern is two distinct details:

1. As I'm scanning for patterns to match, I'm focusing on the pointed end of the handle, as that's a unique style feature not present in many patterns.
2. Once I think I have identified the pattern, I go back to google and search for Towle Old Colonial to see if I can match the center of the pattern near the knife blade (although that photo is blurry it's not useless)
3. Finally I go back to search to ensure that this pattern (or one very similar) wasn't made in silverplate. If I know it wasn't made in plate, I can pull the trigger without anymore research. If a similar (or identical pattern) exists in silverplate or even stainless, I'm going to ask for photos of the back for confirmation.

 

Let me just ask a couple questions - did the listing indicate Towle as the maker?

And what if anything did you do about the 1952 date they gave (since Old Colonial had already been available for over 50 years in 1952. )

 

Good questions for our fellow forum readers to understand. The original listing didn’t mention Towle at all. I sent a message to the seller asking if they would be willing f to ship m, and while waiting for a response I figured I would see if I could match the pattern. It was only a bit of luck that this is one of the patterns silver queen included on her graphic because there are many makers and many patterns...

I didn’t consider the 1952 date to be relevant (and I’m assuming you didn’t either) however if someone mentions a date like 1895 or 1903 (something older) this is a great clue because you can likely narrow down the maker if you know the pattern patent filing date (we are assuming that the seller is identifying the date on the back, which is rarely the actual manufacture date but as I understand it (correct me if I’m wrong) but the date of patent filing of the pattern.

In your search for silver online, everything is a potential clue and deciding what is relevant vs useless will allow you to find something right beneath the surface.

 

You are right that the actual date of manufacture is not the date on the back of the piece, assuming there is even a date there. If there is a date it is usually the year when the patent was issued. Having neither the specific issuance date nor the manufacturer name would make searching the patent records very difficult. I would not bother.