posted 02-05-2006 01:41 PM            

I got this ladle in Montevideo, where I saw many of similar style. The hallmark is hard to read and even harder to photograph. It is a crudely etched crown topped with a cross that almost looks double-struck. Underneath the crown is what looks like the number "800" for the silver content (?). Another mark (maker?, town?) seems to have been partially struck over the 800.

Any ideas as to where and when this might have been made?

Thanks,
Tom

posted 02-09-2006 08:10 PM            

Based on the style and the absence of crescent, I don't think it is German. I saw a lot of spoons with similar motifs that appear to come from the region. Also, the crwon looks as though it is scratched into the surface rather than stamped.

I could, however, be wrong. There is a significant German population in Uruguay. Some came to set up the meat processing industry in the later 19th century. Most of the crew of the pocket battleship Graf Spee were disembarked in Montevideo before the captain scuttled the ship in late 1939. Some of the them settled in the city after the war. After the war man former Nazis went to Argentina and probably Uruguay as well. I saw a few pieces of German silver in the shop where I bought this piece.

A larger question for everybody: where can I find good information on S. American marks?