posted 02-05-2000 06:57 PM            

I have seen a coin knife with a full name mark once; the thread on Tift & Whiting below also concerns knives like these. There seems to be plenty of English plated flatware with pearl handles, but American coin knives seem to be rare.

Does anyone have any additional information or experience with knives of this type? Are there any references that mention them? In addition, where did this pearl material come from, in large enough pieces to carve into knife handles? Could my knives be as old as they appear from the style of mark?

Any help is appreciated!

posted 10-09-2000 11:18 AM            

A quick perusal of some books of marks turned up a Stephen Hardy, working in Portsmouth, N.H. from 1803 to 1843, as a possible maker. Hardy sold a broad range of goods, and knives like these could have been sold by him. Hardy apprenticed with Paul Revere,so he probably would have had the technical skills to make knives. On the other hand, the listed marks for Hardy put the central pellet at the bottom of the mark, like a period. The pellet in this mark is in the middle.

The recent catalog of the silver at the Museum of the City of New York suggests another possibility. The catalog lists a Samuel Hammond, who apparently operated a thriving watch and jewelry business in New York city from 1846 to 1905. Coin silver bearing the mark S. Hammond & Co. had long been attributed to Seneca Hammond of Providence, RI, circa 1807. The existence of pattern flatware (i.e. Jenny Lind) bearing the S. Hammond & Co. mark definitely point towards Samuel Hammond, rather than Seneca, at the correct attribution.

At any rate, I am leaning towards Samuel Hammond as the maker of these knives. Although the maker's mark looks much earlier, the sophistication of the construction and lack of wear point towards a more recent manufacture. In addition, the knives exhibit a monogram in Olde English script. This style of monogram did not appear on American silver until the mid-1800's.

Any thoughts?