Hello,
Just before my wife (of 6 months) and I got married, we were given a set of sterling silver flatware by her grandmother. This had apparently been passed down many generations.
There are actually two full sets: one set sterling, the other set (we presume) plated.
We don’t want to sell the stuff, we just want to know what it’s worth, for insurance purposes. I’m trying to find someone in the central Ohio area who appraises antique sterling flatware, but it’s really difficult. Hopefully we’ll have it appraised soon.
The complete collection includes, starting with the best (we think) knives, forks, and spoons first:
6 knives, reading “1847 Rogers Bros Warranted 16 DWT”
8 forks, 5 original and 3 are what seem to be replacements…
5 of them read “1847 Rogers Bros” and a small circular mark with “MERIDEN” and 3 indistinguishable letters,
1 fork reads “W.F Rogers 12”
1 “WM A. Rogers 12 DWT”
1 “(star symbol) Rogers & Bro.”
7 identical spoons with a “boxy” pattern, dots around the edges, and a floral design near the bottom, reading “1847 Rogers Bros”.
That was a description of the “first” set. I’m assuming the second, lesser set is plated, because the forks and knives say “Sterling Applied, Holmes & Edwards,” but as for the spoons, I am questioning whether they are plated or sterling.
They have an overwhelming floral pattern, and are more “rounded” than the other ones. They all read “International (symbol) Sterling R,” and “Prelude,” in script.
We also have all kinds of odds and ends pieces: a couple plated salad forks, a very “rounded” spoon reading “1847 Rogers Bros. AI. (seal),” two other Rogers Bros. spoons, both of a different style, a plated cheese knife, a plated large spoon, cheese knife, and baby fork and spoon.
All pieces are in a used but very good condition. Many are tarnished, but we can fix that quite easily using a hand cream polish.
What do you think? Is this set worth more than my car ($3,500 USD), or do I need less than $1,000 in insurance coverage? Less than $500? I wouldn’t think that…
I tried to add a photo, but it came back saying that the pic needed to be less than 500x500 pixels. Even my older cell phone camera apparantly takes bigger pictures than that.
Thanks for your opinion!
Brandon