Good day friends.
I have here a German spoon made by the silversmith Richard Garten. I can only show the hallmarks, not the entire spoon, which I unfortunately failed to photograph when I had the chance. I apologize.
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Between “Garten” and “Dresden” there appears a mark dating from the time the Loth system of purity was in vogue. There’s the 12, which is the same as .750, the crossed swords and the D for Dresden.
Richard Garten worked during his early career c.1860 - 1887 using the Loth system, and in his later career using the system which came into being at the start of 1888. So it is clear this spoon was made before 1888. Now when the Loth system was being used, silverware is said to not have year dates letters.
So I am wondering what that final mark on the spoon could tell me. Looks like an Old English script lower case letter “y” or “h“.
Please help, friends. I would like to get closer to the year the spoon was made.
Regards
Jan
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https://925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=231479#p231479
y - 1853?
In German silver, a town mark of crossed swords and a letter “Y” from 1853 typically indicates a piece from Dresden. The crossed swords and the Dresden ‘Y’ are hallmarks for this region. The “Y” stamp was a date letter commonly used by the Dresden assay office in 1853 to denote the year the silver was verified.
https://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47138
Dresden date letters:
A 1702 A 1726 A 1750 A 1775 A 1800 A 1830 A 1855
B 1703 B 1727 B 1751 B 1776 B 1801 B 1831 B 1856
C 1704 C 1728 C 1752 C 1777 C 1802 C 1832 C 1857
D 1705 D 1729 D 1753 D 1778 D 1803 D 1833 D 1858
E 1706 E 1730 E 1754 E 1779 E 1804 E 1834 E 1859
F 1707 F 1731 F 1755 F 1780 A 1805 F 1835 F 1860
G 1708 G 1732 G 1756 G 1781 B 1806 G 1836 G 1861
H 1709 H 1733 H 1757 H 1782 C 1807 H 1837 H 1862
I 1710 I 1734 I 1758 I 1783 D 1808 I 1838 I 1863
K 1711 K 1735 K 1759 K 1784 E 1809 K 1839 K 1864
L 1712 L 1736 L 1760 L 1785 F 1810 L 1840 L 1865
M 1713 M 1737 M 1761 M 1786 G 1811 M 1841 M 1866
N 1714 N 1738 N 1762 N 1787 H 1812 N 1842 N 1867
O 1715 O 1739 O 1763 O 1788 I 1813 O 1843 O 1868
P 1716 P 1740 P 1764 P 1789 K 1814 P 1844 P 1869
Q 1717 Q 1741 Q 1765 Q 1790 L 1815 Q 1845 Q 1870
R 1718 R 1742 R 1766 R 1791 M 1816 R 1846
S 1719 S 1743 S 1767 S 1792 N 1817 S 1847
T 1720 T 1744 T 1768 T 1793 O 1818 T 1848
V 1721 V 1745 U 1769 U 1794 P 1819 U 1849
W 1722 W 1746 V 1770 V 1795 Q 1820 V 1850
X 1723 X 1747 W 1771 W 1796 R 1821 W 1851
Y 1724 Y 1748 X 1772 X 1797 S 1822 X 1852
Z 1725 Z 1749 Y 1773 Y 1798 T 1823 Y 1853
Z 1774 Z 1799 U 1824 Z 1854
V 1825
W 1826
X 1827
Y 1828
Z 1829
a 1805 a 1830 a 1855
b 1806 b 1831 b 1856
c 1807 c 1832 c 1857
d 1808 d 1833 d 1858
e 1809 e 1834 e 1859
f 1810 f 1835 f 1860
g 1811 g 1836 g 1861
h 1812 h 1837 h 1862
i 1813 i 1838 i 1863
k 1814 k 1839 k 1864
l 1815 l 1840 l 1865
m 1816 m 1841 m 1866
n 1817 n 1842 n 1867
o 1818 o 1843 o 1868
p 1819 p 1844 p 1869
q 1820 q 1845
r 1821 r 1846
s 1822 s 1847
t 1823 t 1848
u 1824 u 1849
v 1825 v 1850
w 1826 w 1851
x 1827 x 1852
y 1828 y 1853
z 1829 z 1854
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Dear Bart
Thank you for your kind response. However I fail to see through the murk, although I accessed both those links you sent. The question remains: is that lowercase letter on my spoon an h or a y? I looked up the shape of many styles of calligraphy and could not positively discern the difference.
Those letter code year date lists you sent are too complicated for the likes of me to understand.
Perhaps there’s more advice to help out, on the way? I would be very happy to hear.
Regards
Jan
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Dear Johan! As you mentioned, Richard Garten worked from 1860 to 1887 (some sources say even longer). The arrangement of the markings indicates that it is the letter “y,” which indicates 1853—seven years before Gerten began working. But if we assume it is the letter “h,” then 1862 seems likely.