F.B. Rogers Tea Set -- How to know Silver Plate or Sterling Silver

A. Hello Lee. Rogers moved to Taunton in 1866, so it doesn't mean anything except that the piece is not from before 1866. Unless it is stamped "Sterling", it isn't. And if it isn't, it's value is almost surely nothing. Sorry, nobody wants this stuff, and there is an awful lot of it available. My wife has several such silver plated trays in the attic. In fact I don't think I know anyone "of a certain age" who doesn't because it was a popular wedding gift for a couple of decades :-(

Regards,

A. Hi Norris. Sorry, but that stuff is almost surely silverplate and it's almost surely worth almost nothing. Simply, there are many more people with this stuff in their attic than there are people who want it. Don't shoot the messenger please :-)

While most anything can be counterfeited it seems quite unlikely to me that someone would go to the expense and risk of faking a manufacturer's stamp when that stamp adds no value to the item. Tracing the history of the Rodgers name and trademarks is a difficult task that you would need to put countless hours into, but you can start at
http://silverandsilverplate.blogspot.com/2010/04/clearing-up-rogers-confusion-marks-and.html

Regards,

A. Hi Sue. Sorry to say that odds are very strong that it's worth essentially nothing.

Luck & Regards,

Hi folks. Sure, there's a chance that one in a million of these items is worth something, and people have referred you to sources and routes that you can study if you want to invest the time. I don't want to be rude, but simply, the odds are overwhelming that the pieces are worth nothing.

The best way to clean silver plate is with aluminum foil or an aluminum "silver cleaning plate" and washing soda [on eBay or Amazon] as explained in thread 4785. You may need to finish up with silver polish, but don't do the heavy cleaning with polish because polish removes silver whereas the aluminum cleaning plate converts silver tarnish back to silver.

Regards,

! If you have 1883 F B ROGERS SILVER with crown hallmark you should be able to make out the word quadruple. Which meant it was silver plated 4 times. After the early 1900's they stopped plating in quadruple silver. And went to just silver plated which has considerably less silver on it.

Hi Ria. I'll bet the one holds 12 liquid ounces and the other 13 liquid ounces :-)

Regards,

A. Hi Nay. Any "We buy gold" store will test that it is sterling (which is very unlikely unless it is so marked), weigh it, and give you the current value of the melted down silver. If you are sure that it is sterling, you could list it on eBay ... but remember that the prices you see on eBay [adv: item on eBay] are primarily what stuff is not selling for, rather than what it is selling for :-)

Regards,

A. Hi Andrew. There's nothing wrong with liking what you like and proudly displaying it. So good :-)

The problems only arise when ...
1. people assume that silverplate must be a valuable rarity because they rarely see it ... when the actual situation is more like such items are stored in attics because this once popular look is out of fashion.
2. they assume that silverplate must have significant intrinsic metal value because, after all, there is silver in the plating ... not recognizing that the plating is very very thin and recovering the silver is more costly than its value.

Liking it is fine; expecting to make money selling it, not so much :-)

Regards,

A. Hi Carrie. It probably means 'electroplated with zinc'. If you look on eBay you will see dozens of rather similar zinc plated trivets with asking prices of $6 to $30. By all means enjoy it, but it has no special metal value or collector value. Zinc Plated Trivets on eBay

Regards,

Hi William. This site is about the technology of finishes, not antiquing or valuations. Although I see no silver bowls commemorating Ford's 75th Anniversary on eBay , there are dozens of other items which tell us that the date was 1978; and most of those items are listed quite cheap. So it's not old, it's not silver unless it's marked 'Sterling', and few people use silver bowls anymore, so I doubt that there is much of a market for it … but good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Reese. This is just a public forum for discussing such things. Unfortunately, people posting the markings on their pieces has mostly led only to long lists of unanswered questions rather than discussion :-(
But there are links on this thread to books on the topic, to helpful pages of hallmarks, to suggestions that you check eBay for similar items [adv: item on eBay], plus some general hints that silverplate probably has no value. So I'd suggest reading the previous entries rather than waiting for someone to answer your question :-(

Luck & Regards,

A. Hi Robyn. It's almost surely silverplate with no intrinsic (melted) value; it's only worth what people are willing to pay for it, and that's probably nothing because it's not in style and similar stuff is in a lot of attics & basements and on eBay for under $25. Sorry :-(
But if you like it, that's what matters :-)

Regards,

A. I've read that silver produced in the 1800s had symbols before they started using 925, 800, and so forth. I have the exact same tea pitcher and the crown represents silver. Others are espl, but early 20th century is when they used numbers to represent sterling silver. So you were right I believe it is sterling silver not silver plated

A. Hi Cheryl. All we can say is:
1. Silverplate is generally essentially worthless.
2. You can hunt for comparison pricing for similar stuff on eBay [adv: item on eBay] or Etsy, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or Freecycle if you think we're overly pessimistic.
3. There are sites which will evaluate stuff for a fee, but for silverplate the fee will probably exceed its value.

Sorry, but there is nobody here to do research for you, and odds are strong that each of the next 100 people posting here will want people to comment on their stuff rather than offering an evaluation of someone else's :-(

You can try donating it to a church auction, or to Goodwill, or try selling or giving it away through one of the sites I mentioned. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Connie. This site covers 60,000 topics, and we're always pleased to provide a potential gathering place for people interested in discussing any topic vaguely related to finishing -- including of course F.B. Rogers silverplate -- so we're happy to post your inquiry!

But posting questions does no good unless the readers are interested enough in the subject to engage in conversations about other people's pieces, not just ask questions about their own :-(
Unfortunately that doesn't seem to currently be the case, but keep your fingers crossed :-)

Regards,

A. Hi Maria. I don't know quite what info you seek but there's a lot of info about FB Rogers on this thread. This stuff was apparently popular as a wedding gift in the 40's and 50's, but almost nobody wants it today and it is only plated, not sterling, so it has no worthwhile metal value. Maybe people may once again want it sometime in the future.
1960 is a pattern number, not a "year". It's one of thousands of FB Rogers patterns. You can see a number of pots of pattern 1960 for sale on eBay , Etsy, and other places; just google "FB Rogers 1960". Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Lisa. "1883" represents the age of the company, not the punchbowl. It's silverplate. All sterling silver is stamped '925' or 'Sterling'. According to icollectsterling.com this has been the case since 1849.

Luck & Regards,

A. Hi Kay. I don't know why you call it "Rogers sterling 1255" or if that was just a typo or mind blip. If it is stamped "Sterling" or "925" it is sterling (92.5% silver) and has intrinsic metal value. If it's not so stamped it is almost surely NOT sterling; my understanding is that it is plated and has no value.

Luck & Regards,

A. Hi Billye. You can see lots of similar stuff on eBay [adv: item on eBay]. It may be a vase.

It's plated, not sterling, so it has no metal value. And sadly, even if it were in excellent shape, which it's not, it would still be valueless. eBay has lots of similar stuff in good condition with people asking $40, but that doesn't mean they're getting it. Put it in the attic for your grandchildren or great grandchildren because right now nobody anywhere wants it. Sorry :-(

Luck & Regards,

A. Hi Andrew. 156 is surely just a pattern number not a date of manufacture, and I doubt that you'll be able to determine during which years pattern #156 was used, but this page lists a half-dozen books on the subject; you might see if your library has any of them.

F B Rogers made very little sterling compared to silverplate, but it says what it says so it should have silver value.

Luck & Regards,

A. Greetings Mr Stout,
Your candlestick IS .925 silver.
Unless someone added the word sterling,
Unfortunately, it is likely a 'weighted' item, meaning it's actually just a thin jacket of Silver molded over a plaster/cement form.
Try pushing a blunt object into the metal inside the candle hole or on the base,
You'll easily put a small dent into a weighted item, which won't hurt it's fairly insignificant value.