Found a few silver cups on Long Island recently. Just curious if anyone can tell me about them or if there’s a way to research the names, initials & dates.
This one is Reed & Barton no 2120 GILT. I think it says Staunton, Massachusetts. Can’t read what’s above Reed & Barton. It also has the date of May 15, 1918 on one side & initials LOA.
Thank you!
The stamp on the bottom appears to say (in part) “MED & PLATED”. There is no sterling mark. It’s plated not silver.
The “MED & PLATED” is actually “MF’D & PLATED” - short for ‘manufactured’.
Your inquiry was regarding the date and initials. You have been told this is not silver, but looking at the deep inscription of date and initial it is not plated copper either but Britannia Metal which according to the label was at one point gilted although I can see no sign of any gilt left and rather wonder about that too.
What a pity you dont have that other great collectable from May 15 1918:
This was a stamp to commemorate the first disastrous airmail run from Washington DC. The pilot Boyle twice flew in the wrong direction and when forced to land on a golf course couldn’t find fuel and had to siphon it from another plane.
Some say this set the pattern for the US postal service which attempted to prove that point by printing a stamp with the plane on it upside down.
Flying upside down was about the only thing Boyle didn’t actually do on May 15, 1918
LOA? Launch old airplane? Laugh out allowed?
CRWW
AI 
“Other Possibilities: While “LOA” often refers to the Library of America (a publisher), and they have collections including the year 1918 (such as Hemingway or O’Neill), the specific combination of “LOA” as an engraved monogram alongside “1918” strongly suggests the personal initials on a silver piece.”
