1700's MIKSCH Spoon

momwabs · Post by **momwabs** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 10:36 pm

Any help to understand my relative's name as a maker's mark on the back of my dainty silver spoon would be appreciated. In the typical "box" on the back of the handle is "I M MIKSCH" There is a small dot between the I and the M. This family line is from the mid 1700's. Could he have been a silversmith (they were from the Nazareth and Bethlehem areas of Pennsylvania)? The spoon is about 5 inches long with hand engraved intials on the handle (front and back) and a pointed spoon.
I do not know what "coin" silver is, but because it is old and I assume, American, I choose this category. There are no other silver symbols/markings, just the name I have given.
Any help would be super!
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Post by **2209patrick** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 11:09 pm

John Matthew Miksch was a silversmith who used the mark that you describe. My references have him working in Bethlehem, Pennsylvannia around 1775.
Yes, your spoon is coin silver. Coin silver refers to the fineness of the silver. Coin is .900, as compared to sterling that is .925.

Regards,
Pat.
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