Focus – Moorabool Antique Galleries

Kings Pattern Sterling Silver setting for 12, 1820's and 1880-20653

Sterling Silver is a very desirable Antique these days: it’s the allure of a precious metal that glistens beautifully, formed into beautiful shapes by the hand of a gifted craftsman – but is also an incredible asset that has increased in value to dizzying heights over the past decade.

So it’s a beautiful display item, often usable, and something that will retain a high dollar-value into the future.
That’s worth collecting!

Some ‘usable’ Sterling Silver at Moorabool Antiques, Geelong

What is ‘Sterling Silver’?

‘Sterling’ Silver is a standard enforced in Britain, with severe consequences for any fraudulent activity.
The requirement is the silver content of 92.5% is achieved – the ‘Sterling Standard’, applying originally to currency and bullion. The other 7.5% of metal content actually has a purpose: solid silver is very soft and unsuitable for items that will be used, such as cutlery: the extra metal provides some strength without affecting the appearance of the silver.
Items are assessed by a series of government appointed ‘Assay Offices’, which also recorded the year the item was assessed.

Reading Sterling Silver Hallmarks

This example has very clear marks as they were struck into the silver very deeply.
From top to bottom:
‘WE’ Maker’s Mark – for William Eaton
(0) Leopard’s Head – the mark of the Assay Office in London
# Striding Lion – the British Hallmark indicating it is ‘Sterling Standard’, ie. 92.5% Silver Content
-J- Gothic capital ‘J’ – the date letter for London Assay Office in 1844
ø Head facing left – Young profile of Queen Victoria, left-facing in contrast with previous monarch, which was William IV & faced right.

This example shows the Irish variant of the ‘Sterling’ mark:
‘JS’ – for John Smyth, Dublin
ø Head facing left – Young profile of Queen Victoria
# Seated ‘Hibernia’ figure, representing Ireland, standing in for the striding lion used in the other Assay Offices in Britain
^ Crowned Harp – indicating the Dublin Assay Office
‘m’ Dublin year mark for 1857

Other Solid Silver standards

German .800 silver centerpiece, baroque Four Seasons embossed, c. 1880-12446

Elsewhere, silver of the same standard is also made. American and Australian silver conforms to the 92.5% standard, often using the word ‘Sterling’ for a mark, but without any assay office to mark it. On the Continent, silver content varies a lot, but is often handily marked with the parts of silver out of 1,000: ie. ‘.900’ is 900/1000, or 90%, close to Sterling standard, while items that are going to be used a lot are often .800 silver, 80%, making them hardier.

Caring for your Silver

The one thing about silver is… it inevitably goes black. One way to guard against this is to shut it away in an airtight storage – but then you can’t enjoy it.
Casual usage actually helps keep an item clean, as when you use it and then gently wipe it dry, any traces of black is removed, and your item remains lovely.
However, there always comes a time when you will need to clean your silver. The key is to go gently – while some methods and available cleaners do a fast, brilliant job, this is because the strip off a layer of the surface to reveal the shiny metal beneath. Do this too often, and you will seriously wear away the value of your piece!

For many decades, Moorabool has used & stocked the ‘gentle’ silver cleaner, used by silver collectors and dealers all over the world. This is Hagerty’s, see our stock by clicking the button below.