I have a full set of Spanish flatware which I thought was sterling silver. This was inherited from a family member who believed it was sterling. I’ve attached a photo of the marks. I believe the A1 means it is from Andalucia and I think the star indicates silver. From the marks, can anyone help me identify the year and more importantly, is it sterling silver?
Hi,
I honestly thought A1 was the mark for stainless steel. Don’t take my word for this as I’m totally new to this collecting silver malarkey.
The reason I say this is I have picked up a few bits of stainless from an anonymous benefactor that has A1 stamped on it but obviously no marks like yours…
Like I say I’m probably wrong and hopefully someone else with more knowledge will be able to put you right.
Thanks. I didn’t know that about the marks for stainless steel, so I’ll look further into that.
The star certainly looks like the Spanish mark for 915 standard silver and the fleur-de-lis may very well be the expected accompanying maker’s mark; the latter should be in a hexagon but this could have become distorted during the marking or manufacturing process. A summary of Spanish hallmarking can be found here.
! don’t see “A1” in your picture - I think we are seeing another damaged mark and that it is most likely “ALMAREZ”, probably the name of the manufacturer or retailer.
I don’t know about “A1” on stainless steel; it is however often seen on British electroplate and is used to show plating quality. This is definitely not relevant for your flatware.
Phil
Phil, I appreciate the detail in your response!