I am the new custodian of a canteen of cutlery which has been in my family for around 45 years. I would appreciate help in dating the canteen, I admit I am a bit obsessed about its history and would appreciate any information. The knives are by Joseph Rodgers, and the silverware by Walker and Hall.
I hope you are aware that your “silverware” is not actually silver but electroplate. Normally it is impossible to date electroplate with any accuracy but Walker & Hall used a date-coding system. The Greek letter gamma in a shield is the date code for (I think) 1886. One of our contributors has written the book on the subject and, if he happens upon this post, will either confirm my guess or put me right…
Thank you so much for your reply. Yes, I did know it’s not silver but it’s easier to refer to it as silverware than electroplateware! I did get as far as discovering that Walker and Hall started to use the Greek alphabet in 1885 which would date the Gamma letter at 1887 but I really appreciate the confirmation that I was on the right track.
I did see the post eventually. Sorry for the delay. You are quite right, it is 1886.
Paul.