I am new to this but have spent several hours searching for the solution on my own. That’s where I chanced upon this forum and thought maybe someone could help me. This is an old carving set that has been passed down in the family. I did my best to find the markings and took photos. My golly those are tiny! Any help will be appreciated. Now I can’t tell if I got all 3… the blade says Paris. Also, I know that’s Minerva in the one marking, but I can’t tell if there’s a ‘1’ or a ‘2’. I don’t see a 2 but it’s so hard to tell anything.
I really am new to all of this and am interested in knowing more about it. Has there been no response b/c these are marks that are not known or do you think this is some kind of not important silver? (Quite possible - probably pioneer settlers in mid 1800s?) I’m not sure my photos are good enough or show things correctly. Let me know what I should do / should have done. Thanks.
I think “not known” is the best explanation. There’s nothing there that looks like one of the French guarantee marks, which pretty much rules out sterling silver. That leaves silverplate, and the marks used by makers of plate are usually very poorly documented, so we’re left with almost nothing to go on. The fact that there are no initials makes it even more difficult.
If you had to guess, what animal would you say is shown in the third photo?
Decorative value only, in any case.
Thank you for the reply! I guess I needed a better photo for #3 - that’s the French Minerva and I don’t see a 2 anywhere and I think there’s a 1, and that would mean a better quality of silver. I really don’t know. But It does really look like photos I researched and saw of Minerva. Are you familiar with that marking? I’ll add another photo.
Yes, that’s better, and I agree, that’s Minerva, so it’s silver. Without being able to spot a “1” or a “2,” we’re left to guess about the fineness, though I would venture to say that Minerva’s eye looks like the somewhat larger version, indicating .800 purity. On the other hand, the punch appears to be octagonal, rather than barrel-shaped, which would correspond to .950 fineness.
Of course, that doesn’t help much with the date, which could be anything in a 145-year range. The other mark, which is quite clear, doesn’t match anything I can find. It would be the maker’s mark, of course.
Thanks, Jeff. I will keep looking… I know the blade says Paris - I’ll look around some more for something similar.
I definitely see a “1” in the Minerva head mark. That, together with the punch shape, confirm 950 standard silver.
The diamond or lozenge shape is the maker’s mark. Conventionally these comprise 2 initials and a picture or symbol. Here we only have the second initial (M) and what looks to me like a flower.
That is not much to go on but there is a list of some French maker’s mark here if you would like to do some research for yourself.
Phil
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Thank you, Phil. Yes, I have spent what seems like hours looking through the French markings info but I probably will again. I would think it has to be there somewhere, right? Oh dear. Maybe not. Anyway, thank you for your help.
The mark may not be in that list - it is certainly not complete.