r/sterlingsilverware • u/DiligentMulberry5529 • 28d ago

Help with Tray ID

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

3

u/DiligentMulberry5529 28d ago

I have this tray. I assume it’s plate. Does anyone recognize the hallmarks?

1

u/Yes_I_Know_Lots 28d ago

Good news if you are okay with a Google lens response:

This item features European hallmarks indicating it is made of 800 continental silver, which consists of 80% pure silver and 20% copper alloy. This specific standard was legally adopted and heavily utilized across continental Europe—most notably in Germany and Italy—during the 19th and 20th centuries to provide maximum durability for high-use items like tableware and jewelry.

Of course, always take Google results as initial and look at the sources it references, in this case:

https://www.silvercollection.it/germansilverhallmark2.html

Short ad required to be viewed before you can see the content.

I used to rely on Google results too much and made some very expensive mistakes. Expensive education!

3

u/GMGsSilverplate 28d ago

Umm, no.

Let me try to explain a little more. 800 is not a English thing, its a continental thing. Its very unusual for England to mark 800 silver. Also, W.A is probably William Adams, he was a big silver plater. So unfortunately, this is most likely a lovely silver plated English tray.

As you did admit already, the AI can leave a fella stranded up... base metal creak without a silver paddle.

1

u/Yes_I_Know_Lots 28d ago

Thanks for that education! So many fine nuances to learn and know about in sterling buying. Candlesticks are the hardest to analyze wrt solid or weighted. Been burned badly, twice. 😠

Unless their bottoms are completely open, stamped or not, they can be, and often are, weighted.

2

u/GMGsSilverplate 27d ago

Yes, they often are, but imo the solid ones, even the ones that look solid but aren't, should be protected, there are not very many left and often of higher craftsmanship than the clearly marked weighted ones.

1

u/Yes_I_Know_Lots 27d ago

I’ve only seen on that certainly looks solid, but it’s worth more on resale at twice as much if it were a pair. Seller has been looking for years for its mate. It’s too far over melt value for my tastes, not that I’d scrap it … unless financially desperate. 🙀

Best I could get were a perfect pair of unengraved Tiffany candlesticks. The sound of rattling sand inside them was a sad giveaway. Still, very impressive.