Gorham Versailles Flatware- Old vs new Marks.... Help Please

British Silver Reading Silver Hallmarks
1

Hi-

I am trying to determine whether this is the older or newer style of Gorham Versailles. At first, I thought this was a straight forward answer…“If it has the word COPYRIGHT then it is of the older molds.” This may be true, but I think there are others that do not have this on the back of the pieces that are also of the older origin. The piece I have does not appear to be made from 1991-1998, but please help me identify the age based on the markings. I do know that various letters can also determine the date codes as well but this piece does not have any letters. For example, an “H” would indicate 1875 origin and I have seen some with just the letter and no “COPYRIGHT” printed.

In any case, I am trying to determine what year this particular mark pertains to.

Here is additional info on the Gorham Marks but I was unable to locate this particular one:

925-1000.com/Gorham_Date_Code.html

Thanks in advance for your help.
gorham spoona.jpg
gorham mark 1a.jpg

2

Hi there and thanks for joining us. Gorham did not date its flatware, just holloware. The letters on some of its flatware are the weights, i.e. T for Trade (the lightest), M for Medium, H for Heavy, and HI for Extra Heavy.

Regards,

Uncle Vic

3

Hi Vic-

Thanks for the info. Do you know how to differentiate “Old Patterns” from the “Newer” ones? I have heard it has to do with the “Copyrighted” mark but I am still unclear about this.

I know that some were manufactured in the 1800’s and 1900’s where others that are considered “new cast” were made in 1991-1998.

Is there a way to differentiate between the two?

Thanks again for your help in identifying the age of these pieces.

4

Well, the mark on your pieces looks like the “old” Gorham mark to me and certainly not something marked in the 1990s. I have a fair amount of very old Gorham and your mark is consistent with the old stuff. That pattern was introduced in 1888 and according to one of my reference books, had “multiple motifs”. You might try contacting Gorham to see if they can shed some light on the dates they used the various “motifs”. Also, look up the pattern on www.replacements.com and see if they draw any distinctions between “motifs” and age.

Regards,

Uncle Vic

5

Hi Vic-

I checked with Gorham and they referred me to another company that could not help me. I also contacted Replacements and they gave me some pretty vague answers. I am pretty sure that it is definitely pre 1950’s but I am heading to the library today to do more research.

Please let me know if you can pin point a date and I will do the same. Hopefully this might help someone else out that runs into the same issue.

Thanks again.

:smiley: