French maker's mark on item made from 5 Franc coins

[Galava]

I'm new to your forum, which was recommended to me by another member, and am hoping you can help with information about a maker's mark on a piece made from 2 x 5 Francs coins pinned together to make a manicure set fob.

Once it was created the piece has had the Medusa head hallmark and a maker's mark added to each side of the piece and onto the bar of the chain. I've searched through the listings of French makers' marks on your website and have been unable to find a match for the maker, so am hoping you can help by identifying the maker and the dates they were in action.

I've added a set of photos to my Flickr album here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/glassoholi ... 612412603/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which I hope will be of use - the marks are incredibly tiny and the photos taken with a macro lens through a magnifier, so really are as large as I can make them but they do show up fairly clearly on one side, not as clear on the other, and very poorly on the attached chain.

[Smokanabeach]

Hi! The quality oc the pics is too poor to answer, sorry. About the medusa: can't it be a crab, that you can find on small silver french items ( as the head of boar)?

Regards

[Galava]

I'm sorry that my pics aren't good enough for you. They are the best we can obtain using a macro and super-macro lens and a magnifier. The marks are extremely small and worn, which is why we are struggling to get decent images. The item was looked at by the person who recommended us to ask about it here, and he thought the Medusa head mark was just that. I have no knowledge of French silver so am at a loss to know if it is or isn't. I'm sorry for wasting your time.

[2209patrick]

Welcome to the forum.

I think you did the best you could on the pictures with what you had to work with.

Eloi Pernet.



Couteau ouvert is the symbol in the middle of the mark and means "open knife".

http://eloi.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pat.

[Smokanabeach]

Hi Galava!

I'm so stupid having asked to you better pics because I already saw this item: my step father sent me pictures of a similar item he bought on Frebruary 28th!

As said by 2209patrick the silversmith is Eloi (well-known for having produce this kind of manicure sets) and the silver hallmark is a crab as said before.

Here are the pictures:

http://i41.tinypic.com/21d4hoi.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i41.tinypic.com/2wqearl.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i43.tinypic.com/2j8kzm.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i39.tinypic.com/348r1hk.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i44.tinypic.com/2z54rqt.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards

[Galava]

Thank you both for your most informative replies and for the information re the maker. I'm fascinated to see that items like these are still being made! Having seen the others I've now been able to inspect mine more closely and see that there are two parts missing - one of the blades appears to have been snapped off inside the coins, and the spring on the scissors is missing. It's also interesting to see how much larger the maker's mark is on the piece Smokanabeach's pictures show compared to mine, which really is very tiny. I'd never manage to see a crab in the other mark as it's so much tinier still and more worn, so thank you for that also. I very much appreciate your help and info with solving my puzzle.