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us start with a brief history of the names and
terminology used with silver. The word
sterling is derived from Easterling, the eastern
edge of what is now Germany, during the late 13th
century. These people had the best silver
coins in Europe. They were able to alloy
silver and copper so as to make them harder and wear
longer. At this time it was popular to
"shave" coins since the surface was almost
pure silver. The small amount of silver
scraped from each coin was then saved. At some
time in the 15th century, the English set the alloy
for sterling at 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper.
You will see items stamped 925/1000 or just
925. This means 925 parts silver. Coin
silver is 90% or 900/1000 silver. Some
European silverware is as low as 700/1000 silver,
but the balance is always copper.
Silverware was often
used in place of coins to pay taxes, therefore the
Goldsmiths Guild also included silverware into their
control. All items have to be assayed and
marked with
- The mark of the silversmith, usually two
initials.
- Crown, the mark of the guild.
- Lion
passant or face meaning 925/1000 parts silver.
- Date
mark, a single letter.
The United States
only requires that the item be 925/1000 parts silver
before it can be stamped sterling. Each
silversmith is free to use any marks they
wish. Tuttle used the initial of the president
of the United States as a date mark. Tiffany
and Co. uses the initials of its president.
English or Sheffield
plate was developed around the end of the 18th
century and was a method of bonding sterling silver
sheet to copper sheet. Hollowware was then
formed in the conventional ways. The silver
was only on one side, the other side was
tinned. Only about 10% of the pieces were
trademarked.
In 1834, a patent was
issued in England for electroplating silver and it
has not changed much from the original. Most
manufacturers stamped their name and a stock number
on the bottom of hollowware and the back of
flatware. The only attempt at quality was the
use of quadruple, triple, double, and single plate
on the bottom of hollowware. This was a
measurement of thickness, with silver quadruple
being the finest. Dipping four times was
required to get a heavy electroplate. Today
the same thickness can be achieved by dipping only
once.
Companies quit using
quadruple, triple, and double plate about
1900. Today, some manufacturers do not even
put their name on the pieces, a hint as to quality!
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