www.925-1000.com

Coin silver engraved fish set, circa 1850. Looks like a New York mark, similar in form to Albert Coles with "V" instead of "AC" and the bust facing the other way. Does anybody recognize the mark? If not, there is a new unknown mark for the site. TIA, Nadine

The mark is that of James Vancourt of New York City. This mark has an interesting history. In 1848, Vancourt was in partnership with Albert Coles' nephew, William L. Coles, at which time the mark read C over V in the middle diamond. If you look closely at the mark on your piece, you can still see the C on the top, although it is much less raised than the V. Apparently, the die cutter made the choice not to recut the center mark, which would have then required that the eagle and bust be cut more deeply and make a deeper mark into silver pieces. Instead, he or she reduced the C so that it is barely visible, thereby saving the remainder of the die.

Thanks for the info! I thought it looked like the first initial had been removed from the die, but I couldn't make it out. Can the mark be added to the American Marks section of the 925-1000.com site?

Hi Nadine,

Welcome to the Forum.

If you can provide a large clear image of the mark and send it to marks@925-1000.com it will be added to the Encyclopedia.

Trev.

Hi Trev,
An image of the mark has been emailed to the site.

Trev,
The email bounced with the following error:

marks@925-1000.com
SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<marks@925-1000.com>:
host 925-1000.com [65.60.20.90]: 550 Mailbox quota exceeded

Here is the image of the mark:

Hi Nadine,

Many thanks for the image and for letting us know about the email problem.

Regards, Trev.