Coin Silver Spoons from early 1800s - need mark help

[sciwitch]

Hi all - I have two spoons that I've been told is "coin silver" that have been passed down in my family. There were supposed to have been wedding gifts to my 3rd great-grandparents, Martha and Moses Rogers, who were married in New York 1821. The front of the spoons have "MR" engraved on them. The hallmarks on the back are too faded to read clearly - I'm not even sure if they're American or British. I spent an hour or so wandering the various marks in the website, but didn't find any matches. Any ideas?

[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

That appears to be a James Dixon & Sons of Sheffield mark (upside down in your image).

The spoons shape is very American in style and I'm sure would have been made for export to that market. The engraving was probably done in the States.

Here's some more examples of the mark:





Trev.

[dognose]

For more information regarding the firm of James Dixon & Sons, see:

http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... 38&t=18034

and: http://www.925-1000.com/silverplate_D2.html

Trev.

[sciwitch]

For more information regarding the firm of James Dixon & Sons, see:

http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... 38&t=18034

and: http://www.925-1000.com/silverplate_D2.html

Trev.

So the spoons are silver plate from England. Cool.

Thank you so much for helping to solve a longtime family mystery.

[sciwitch]

One more question - any idea of the date these spoons were created? It would answer the question of whether or not the spoons were wedding gifts (1821), or purchased later on. Thanks again.

[dognose]

I'm not sure there's been too much research into the marks of James Dixon & Sons (would be delighted to be proved wrong), but I would say the mark is a fairly early one, maybe about 1850 or so.

Trev.

[sciwitch]

Interesting - Moses died in 1852 so it would have to have been before then.

Thank you so much for your expertise.

Mel

[sciwitch]

Final question (no really)...

Since we think this is silver plate, it is more likely the D in a circle stands for "D = Fifth Quality = 6 grams on 12 pieces = 0 1/2 grams per table spoon or table fork" as opposed to a date mark (which looks like it would date to 1812 if it were silver).

Correct?

[dognose]

Don't worry about the questions, post as many as you wish. We never tire of discussing anything to do with the silver trade.

I doubt it could be a quality indicator, it the other examples I posted we have a 'Y', and a 'W'. It may well be evidence that Dixon's did at one time use a dating system, but this would likely be an in-house code and not related to the date letters used by the Sheffield Assay Office.

Have you tried polishing the spoons? From the images, to me it looks like a nickel silver base metal where the plating has been polished away over the years. If so, then it would indicate electro plating, and we would be talking late 1840's at the earliest.

Trev.

[sciwitch]

I just tried a bit of polish on one of the spoons and it doesn't really look any different. So you are probably right about the nickel silver base metal. I guess we may never know what the "D" means.

Thanks again for all your help. These spoons have been a family mystery for a while.

Mel