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Old Gorham Silver Piece 11oz "1 77"
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:35 pm
by Silvermind
Hello,
I have this really old piece by Gorham Silver. It is hard to see on the bottom but it says "Gorham" above "Silver" and then underneath has the number "1 77" as well as "11 oz". Can anyone provide any information on the age of this piece? I know Gorham was founded in 1831 but I cannot find any source that shows early designs. It's quite small and measures about 5 inches tall. I'm not even sure if it's meant to hold milk or tea. Does anyone have an idea on what period this could be from potentially? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Re: Old Gorham Silver Piece 11oz "1 77"
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:39 am
by legrandmogol
Hi this piece is definitely Silver Soldered (aka silver plate). Probably dates from 1880 - 1920 and given how very very used it looks it was probably used in a hotel or restaurant. Most silver soldered stuff was because it could hold up to more wear the regular plating.
Re: Old Gorham Silver Piece 11oz "1 77"
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2018 12:06 pm
by AG2012
Hi,
Gorham used ``STERLING``950-1000 FINE ``COIN`` etc for solid silver.
Silver plated production was marked ``SILVER ON COPPER``SILVER SOLDERED`` EP`` EPNS`` etc.
As suggested above,have it tested and try to decipher the whole text.
Regards
Re: Old Gorham Silver Piece 11oz "1 77"
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 12:23 pm
by Silvermind
Thank you both for your replies. I looked up silver soldered and can definitely see why you say that. My piece has definitely taken a good beating. I've looked up on eBay some silver soldered pieces and they can range from looking slightly as beat up as mine to looking exactly like silver plate.
I might try and get mine tested to be sure.
The text on the bottom is very difficult to make out and I barely made out "G O R H" and I can only see an "S" and possibly "L", and it doesn't look like a typical Gorham mark, which could mean it's older. I appreciate you both providing your insight. Thank you again!
Re: Old Gorham Silver Piece 11oz "1 77"
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2018 1:26 pm
by AG2012
Hello again,
``Silver soldered`` was discussed here:
viewtopic.php?t=11116
Silver solder or hard solder melts at 600 - 700 C unlike soft (tin based) solder (melts at slightly over 200 C). The term was used by manufacturers for commercial reasons (sounds better than silver plated).
It goes without saying that soft solder cannot be used on silver plated holloware.
Regards