The Treasure I Found...

Hello,

I am new to the forum and am still learning about silver. I bought this box at a thrift store today and wish I knew more about it. It is about the size of one’s hand.

The top has some sort of code of arms and reads “HONI PENSE” and “Dieu et Mondroit”…I did not see any other enscriptions on the bottom. It is very elaborate.

The inside is lined with red velvety fabric…It has lion paw feet.

Does anyone know anything about this precious box or how much it could be worth?

Thank you so much. All feedback is appreciated! :smiley: :smiley:

I will post the other pictures after this listing as it looks as I may only post one picture. Thanks!
silver4.jpg
silvertop1.jpg

1 Like

Another pic…
silverfeet2.jpg

And another pic.
silvertop1.jpg

Last pic…
silverinside3.jpg

Hi Sarah,

Can you see any hallmarks on the piece?

If not, can you see any base metal showing through the silver? (look for yellow/gold colour at the high points)

The coat of arms is the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. Because of this, I would guess that the item is one of the following…

  1. Old, silver or silverplate, and given as a gift by the royal familly,
  2. Fairly modern, silverplate or metal, and bought from the Buckingham Palace souvenir shop!

Unfortunately, without holding it and examing the quality and method of manufacture, I couldn’t really determine which option is correct. If its option number one, you have quite an interesting item, worth atleast a few hundred pounds. However, if its option number two, its not worth very much at all.

Either way, it is a very nicely made jewellery box!

Regards

Jonathan

There seems to be a number of these jewellery boxes up for sale, so they must have been fairly common.

Noticed one for sale in US which states it is Silverplated and dates from 1920’s. Found another in the UK listed as Sterling Silver. Can’t imagine Buckingham Palace to have been operating a souvenir shop back in the 1920’s. Can imagine, though, that the Palace would have had, and still have, some way of categorising recipients of their corporate gifts according to their “worth” - some being worth sterling silver, lesser beings only worth silverplated.

Would also imagine that, if my assumption is correct, there would be some marking, at least the maker’s mark, somewhere. I have a few pieces in which the marks are rather discretely hidden away in the design. Have you looked very closely in the design itself?

If you wanted to confirm that these boxes had been royal gifts and not purchased as souvenirs, you could contact the Royal Gift Shop and ask - the-royal-collection.com/ for entry to The Shop.

hi,

your item is a dressing table/trinket box and is silver plated.theyre relatively poor quality,fairly modern,circa 1970’s is the best you could hope for.the royal arms are of our current queen so its impossible for it or other ones to be circa 1920’s.

sorry,regarding worth,approx £15-20/$25-40

I just purchased one of these Jewelry boxes mine look’s very old.