Fur trade silver cross- any info much appreciated

[rubyann]

I recently came across this cross pendant and would love to know more about it. From what I've been able to find in the last few hours online, it is likely a trade item, exchanged for furs in the North American fur trade. They were made in the US, Canada, and Britain and exchanged with Native Americans. I believe this item came from an estate in the Great Lakes area, but that might not mean much. It has a mark I initially thought was Arabic, but now knowing it is American, the best I can see is "IC" with the two letters touching or slightly overlapping. One edge of the hallmark is indistinct, so I can't be sure. The interior of the "C" is irregular, so I am thinking it might be an image contained inside an oval. The outline of the mark is a rectangle with the corners cut off. There are no other marks aside from the decorations on the face of the cross.
What I'd hopefully like to find out is where it was made, country wise. I have not been able to determine if trade silver from Britain was marked the same way most British silver is. Knowing that would help me determine if it was made in Britain or in North America. If I could find out the maker & when it was made, it would be a bonus. But really I'd appreciate any information about this type of work.

I tried posting photos but I kept getting an error message about being able to determine the size- don't know what's up with that because I used the exact format in the how-to section, and also tried flickr's ready-made bbcode- same message. Too tired to troubleshoot at 5am. Apologies.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/umamimama/7424559508
http://www.flickr.com/photos/umamimama/7424559508
http://www.flickr.com/photos/umamimama/7424559456

[dognose]

Hi Rubyann,

Welcome to the Forum.

I'm afraid I know little on the subject, but below is a link to article that may be of interest:

http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... 38&t=20705" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Trev.

[rubyann]

Thanks! That's a great article!