Latvia 875 Silver Maker TF7

terry5732 · Post by **terry5732** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:07 pm

Information for old Latvian silver seems pretty scarce. This item has T cyrillic F and 7 in one cartouche with the lady head and 875 in another. There is a small H to the left of the lady head. It is also stamped in another place, where it looks like there is a decimal point in it - "87.5".

terry5732 · Post by **terry5732** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:38 pm

What is wrong with the admins here that they put a post with pictures in photo shy?

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blakstone · Post by **blakstone** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 8:56 pm

Soviet era companies had dreadfully unimaginative names. This is the mark of the Tallinn Jewelry Manufactory (more or less) for 1957. (The last digit gives the year.)

terry5732 · Post by **terry5732** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:01 pm

There is no hammer and sickle mark. I have never seen Soviet gold or silver lacking that mark. It is of more substantial weight than the typical Soviet items also. Why would the 7 indicate 1957 rather than 1977 or 1927? What does the H next to the womans head indicate?

Post by **admin** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:33 pm

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blakstone · Post by **blakstone** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:27 am

There is no hammer and sickle mark. I have never seen Soviet gold or silver lacking that mark.

The "hammer & sickle" mark was not introduced in the USSR until 1958. Before that, from 1927, this "worker's head" mark - there is a hammer at the base of the neck - was used.

It is of more substantial weight than the typical Soviet items also.

This particular stepped rectangular outline of the "worker's head" mark indicated a piece that weighed less than 10 grams; an oval outline was used on items 10 grams and over.

Why would the 7 indicate 1957 rather than 1977 or 1927?

Because the Tallinn Jewelry Manufactory was only operating from 1953-1958. (“Jewelry Manufactory”, I should mention, is a loose translation from my very limited understanding of Russian; I gather it more accurately translates to the equally lackluster “fabricator of fine decorative items”.)

What does the H next to the womans head indicate?

It’s actually the Greek letter Eta and was, from 1946-1957, the mark of the assay office in Tallinn, Estonia. (Estonia and Latvia were independent countries between the world wars, each with their own silver marks; neither became part of the USSR until the 40’s. I mention this because I think from re-reading your initial post that you may have confused the Soviet "worker's head" mark with the similar — but distinct - independent Latvian mark.)

Hoping this clears things up!

Ref: M. M. Postnikova-Loseva, Zolotoe i serebrianoe delo XV-XX vekov: territoriia SSSR, 1995 (3rd ed.)