HH&S different than Henry Hobson & Sons

HI all!

Well here is another find that may have turned out to be less valuable than dreamed… The marking of H H & S is different than any online marking I have found for Henry Hobson & Sons, which makes me question who is the maker or if it is a forgery. I am concluding that the EP means this is an Electroplated set, which other posts elude to being of very little value. Any help is appreciated!!

As a newbie can someone help clarify the difference in value between EP and Sterling? For example, One of the utensils in this set would be worth $100 while since it is EP it is Or the set may fetch $1200 at auction if it were sterling, however since it is EP the expected outcome may bring between $50 and $120.

Having a bit of difficutly posting pics, but will get them up in a jiffy!!

Thanks!!
Kentia

Well all I could do was put the mark in my avatar while I contact the board administrator, since I can’t upload a 13 KB jpg.

The metal value is one factor. Brass or copper has a different value than silver. I think that copper has a scrap value of 19 DKK per kilo - where silver has a scrap value of 2000 DKK per kilo.

Age is a factor. We who collect silver prefer pieces more than 200 years old. EP is a product of the industrial revolution. The teknique was invented around 1850. And EP fullfils its mision - value - the use of the item. A fork or a spoon for eating etc.

Silver it is not. It has nothing what so ever to do with silver. To call it silver is purely marketing. Because seller knows that we requier silver - so selller gives the idea that it is a “form of silver” - Bullshit!!! it has nothing to do with silver. What so ever!

Hawing said that - it has a value on its own premisies. It can have buaty, value in use, art etc. but never confuse with silver.
EP can be seen as the butter (a diabetic person) puts on a piece of bread. The bread is the base material - butter being the silver layer. You would never mistake a slice of bread with butter and you would never call that slice of bread with the name butter.

Comparred to this you have coin silver, european standard of silver 800, 830, 900 etc. This can be comparred with cofee with milk. Danish standard is 830. In cofee/milk silver (the coffee) is 83% and cupper(the milk) is 17% . One cannot seperate the milk from the coffee. And “coffee” is the main product. “milk” is only added to strenghen the product as silver is to soft to use i daily use. But you can seperate the bread and butter. That is what happens with EP when used then the butter (silver) is worn off the basematerial (cupper/bread).

Does this give value to you - or am I just writing what you already knew?

A typical spoon made by a silversmith (I talk real silver hand made spoons - the ones we want to have, from 1700hundreds) has a weight of 40 gram - a typical EP spoon around 1920ties is 65 gram.
Silver allows the craftman to work, crate, make art.
EP is pure maschinery, no man power of a skilled silver smith.

Look at my picture - silver 1700dreds. Made for use, pleasure, buaty and a place to put your savings.

Or to summarise: electroplating is an electrochemical process in which a very thin layer of pure silver is deposited onto a base metal such as copper, Britannia metal, etc. The intrinsic value of the silver in an electroplated item is very small, certainly compared with its solid silver equivalent. The other component of value, as Hose_dk says, is artistry or craftsmanship. This is often lacking in electroplated items which tend to be factory mass-produced.