Letter 14003

Hallmarks? Silver or pewter? [West Virginia] 

1. What is it?
2. What do the hallmarks mean?

I have an odd piece of metal I purchased over Ebay from the U.K. There are several marks on the back. In order, left to right they are:
1. capital "W" in an oval
2.Capital "L," small "d" with underline in oval.
3.anchor in a square
4. lion standing, facing left, in a rectangle
5.looks like a small "q" in a rounded square

I looked up British hallmarks.
The anchor and lion seem to be Birmingham.
The "q" seems to indicate 1915, or the capital "W" may indicate a different year.

I wonder if this item is silver or pewter. It is hard to smell and I do not want to taste it at this time due to polishing agent.

A general description is: Looks like it might be a bookmark or dress clip that one simply places over the page or edgeline of a clothing item.

The front is round with 4 leaves and 4 fleur-de-lis cut out from the solid circle, and touching the outside circle. All designs look incised.

At the bottom of this ring are two "connectors" at about 5pm and 7pm. There are protruding circles at this point on the circle and each protruding circle has a "chain ring" for want of a better work. I hope someone can help!

Do I have a piece of junk or a treasure from the past!

Thanks,

Jane Calvert Kimble
- South Charleston, WV, U.S.A.

I watched Antiques Road Show twice so my bet is the symbols are indicative of a treasure from the past, but you may have a piece of junk with phony symbols :-)

We printed your letter just as a matter of curiousity, to see if the symbols meant anything to anyone. But there is no way anyone could possibly contribute to an appraisal from this distance. Take it to an antiques appraiser.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com Inc. - Brick, NJ

Jane,

Go to a (proper!) antique dealer, OK?

If it were pewter, then it would have a very dark colour and also be relatively soft compared to silver, ie. it would scratch more easily.

If silver ... and left untouched! ... it would nearly turn black due to oxidization.

If it is a clip in the true sense, then I doubt that it was made of the weaker pewter ... which is A.OK for pots and mugs.

Anyhow, pewter polishes up (ye olde, I mean) not too well but silver DOES!

Freeman Newton
- White Rock, B.C. Canada

Hi,

The lion in rectangle means its sterling silver (92.5% silver), Anchor refers to its city of manufacture, Birmingham England, and the capital W refers to the year and thats 1871. The L and q refer to the silver-smith but I don't know who that is......

Ian
- Ireland

I have come across a coffee server with creamer and sugar with lid. The markings on the bottom are a number that I believe would be the date, which is 1908. Also, has K S co. The co is a capital c with the o inside of it. There is a logo or hallmark of a man's head and shoulders with a hat that looks like a tri-corner hat worn in days of old. I have searched the web endlessly under pewter and silver and finally found your site and am hopeful that you will be able to help me.....Thank you in advance

Ruth Hardy
collector - Niagara Falls, New York, U.S.A.

Ed. note: Our is a website about industrial metal finishing, and this is the last hallmarking inquiry we can print. Sorry, but is way off topic. If you can find no hallmarking website, at least there are plenty of books about hallmarks. Good luck!

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