Identifying Hallmark: British Spoon

British Silver Reading Silver Hallmarks
1

[/url] click url for large version [url]http://members.optuszoo.com.au/david_kendallau/silverspoons6.jpg[/url]

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[url]http://members.optuszoo.com.au/david_kendallau/silverspoons4.jpg[/url]

I know this spoon is from Britain as it has the Lion stamp
I can’t work out the K
or if on the end that is a stamp of the head (possibly a duty mark?) but the spoon doesn’t look to be old enough to have been made between 1784 and 1890…

So help with the K and the last stamp would be great! Also the ESA?

2

Although we can’t be 100% sure without an assay office mark, this is most likely to be a London-asayed spoon dating from the assay year 1805-06; K is the date code for that year. At this period it was not uncommon for the assay office mark to be omitted (in this case it would have been a crowned leopard’s head). And yes, that does appear to be a duty mark.

The initials on the front show that this is what we call a “marriage spoon”. E and A are the bridegroom’s and bride’s forename initials and the S is the surname initial. It is probable that only one spoon was engraved like this and that it would have been preserved as a keepsake and not used - hence the good condition.

3

thanking you greatly!
Just wondering is such a spoon worth much? (obviously it has personal value to the family owners…)

4

£5-£10 for a teaspoon; £20-£30 for a tablespoon. I think yours is a teaspoon from the proportions of the handle? I leave you to do the currency conversion.