I’m hoping the collective knowledge here can solve this one! I came across this pretty little small spoon, approximately 125 mm long and weighing 17 g and I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to identify the marks but keep hitting dead ends. My first thought on style and quality was late Victorian British silver, I’ve also looked at Scandinavian and Continental but nothing seems to definitive. The maker’s mark appears to be FH, but it’s Francis Higgins as the punch doesn’t match his registered mark. The third punch has an outer cartouche similar to a lion passant, but I can’t convince myself the device inside is actually a lion. I’ve wondered if it might be a high-quality silver-plated piece, but there are no EP/EPNS-type marks and all the wear points are still silver with no brass or copper showing through. So I’m now thoroughly confused! I’d love to hear what others think about the maker, the marks or even the country of origin.
Thanks for your help on that, much appreciated.
BTW, there wouldn’t be any brass or copper showing through, because the silver plating is on nickel silver. Nickel silver doesn’t contain any silver at all - it has that name because it looks silver.
Indeed it does and my first reaction when I picked it up from the 50p tray at the charity shop was plate but I think its one of those times when the more you question what you’re seeing the more you see stuff that perhaps isn’t there. Thanks again.