posted 11-04-2002 10:49 PM            

From ozfred:

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Dear Scott and June,

I was wondering if you and your readers might be interested in the results of some research on a well traveled silver box made by J. Rose and assayed in Birmingham in 1905? It is 57 x 40 x 14mm, weighs 46 grams and would have started off as a plain, highly polished piece, as was the fashion of the day.

Some time later the box lid was engraved, given a matt finish and partially gilded, probably in Russia. Prior to being sold in the Soviet Union it went to an Assay Office and stamped with the two State marks. One being a worker with a hammer over the shoulder that was used between 1926 and 1940. The other was the USSR standard of .875, as shown in the oval punch, even though the standard was .925 according to the UK assay.

The box then, apparently, traveled through Russia into Afghanistan, then, down the Kyber Pass to the Peshawar markets, Pakistan. This was where it was purchased by a dealer who brought it to Australia and sold it, also, at a market. The dealer being oblivious of the story that the marks and the decoration could tell with a little research.

(The UK assay marks are at the front of the box and the Soviet's are on the right hand side of the flange.)

Regards,
Ozfred.

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