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 definition coin silver vs german silver & reference for marks
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| Author | Topic: definition coin silver vs german silver & reference for marks |
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united2gether Posts: 14 |
posted 09-21-2005 04:23 PM
  
I have a a question I've wondered about for a long time... I searched the forum but the responses didn't address this simple thing that I could see. questions:
coin silver ~ is that the content of coins... or 800 silver? I see the term with respect to American coin silver. I need a good silver reference for marks ~ any favorites? I found the forums here through a link from an online marks reference for both American and some international marks, but it is a growing project. IP: Logged |
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tmockait Posts: 963 |
posted 09-21-2005 04:31 PM
From a glossary I found and paraphrase: German silver is another name for a metal alloy having the appearance of silver but containing no real silver. It is sometimes used as a synonym for Alpacca (see thread "mark id" for a discussion of alpacca). Do not confuse "German Silver" for silver made in Germany, which was usually 800 or 830 parts per 1000 pure silver. Coin silver refers an alloy of 90% silver and 10% copper (roughly the content of silver coins) in use in the US prior to 1870 when the sterling standard (92.5% silver) was adopted. Hope this helps, IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 09-21-2005 05:24 PM
While the content of more modern coin silver tends to be 900 parts silver per 1000, old coin silver tends to be a bit variable as it was made of whatever silver was handy to a silversmith. While it often included some European, Mexican and American silver coins, it also included whatever other silver the smith could get his hands on such as old candlesticks, bowls, plates, flatware, etc. This included sterling grade as well as lower silver content items. Also, not all coins are 900 parts silver. For example, British coins, of which a great many were in circulation in the U.S. in the 1800s were all sterling or 925 parts per thousand until around 1920. Old Mexican coins which were also in wide circulation in the U.S. in the 1800s were minted in either 931 or 916 parts per thousand silver purity. The result is that old coin silver is kind of like meatloaf - you make it from whatever is leftover in the refrigerator that day. The result is old coin silver can be higher or lower than 900 parts silver per 1000. IP: Logged |
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FWG Posts: 845 |
posted 09-21-2005 05:30 PM
See also the thread I started in the coin forum: Hall & Elton, coin and nickel silver And in the coin forum archives I think I remember a thread or two on content analyses of pieces marked coin, and whether they actually originated as melted down coins. The California book, Silver from the Golden State I think it is (sorry, I don't have my library at hand) is the source for the assays of San Francisco coin silver that were so astoundingly low in silver content. Ads in the 19th century often guaranteed their coin silver was the equal of coins in quality (roughly 90%, as Tom noted), but not all products met that mark. And some were probably finer, on the other hand.... -- Seems Kimo and I were typing in unison! And I just added a link on nickel silver to the thread ID"-- that thread also deals with these questions. IP: Logged |
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tmockait Posts: 963 |
posted 09-21-2005 06:37 PM
Also, hallmarking originate in England because people stored wealth as plate (as in what you eat of not sivlerplate) and other silver objects and then converted them to coin when they needed money. Of course the government had a vested interest in ensuring the purity of all silver. During the the English Civil War of the mid 17th century, both crown and parliament but especially the former issued call for silver to support the cause. Many silver objects were melted down, which helps explain why 17th c. English silver is more scarce than it might have been and bloody expensive! Tom IP: Logged |
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united2gether Posts: 14 |
posted 09-22-2005 06:12 PM
Ok ~ Thanks for the links! Guess I always thought of Alpaca (sp?) silver as being from Mexico and not really silver. So it was interesting to read the ALP Alpacca mark is European. Would probably be more confusing except the Mexico pieces tend to be marked w/ the Country name too. We had a dozen or so *American* coin spoons that were odd because some seemed like silver and others seemed harder and not soft like silver. Never could find anything on the marks. I'll try to dig up the pics. I'm not sure what *fiddleback* spoons look like, but when I was reading it, bells started to go off Thanks for the great replies ~ united IP: Logged |
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united2gether Posts: 14 |
posted 09-22-2005 06:13 PM
btw, did spend time reading those links! My eyeballs are still spinning ~ lol IP: Logged |
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