AMERICAN SILVERPLATE MARKS
MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF USA AND CANADA SILVER PLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER MAKERS |
This is a page of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu,
a 1000 pages richly illustrated website offering all you need to know about
antique silver, sterling silver, silverplate, sheffield plate, electroplate silver,
silverware, flatware, tea services and tea complements, marks and hallmarks, articles,
books, auction catalogs, famous silversmiths (Tiffany, Gorham, Jensen, Elkington, WMF, Reed & Barton, Mappin & Webb,
history, oddities ...)
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AMERICAN SILVERPLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER - ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MAKERS: - H - |
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HALL, ELTON & CO - Willingford CT founded in the 1830s. The firm was purchased
in 1890 by Maltby, Stevens & Curtiss and later by Watrous Mfg Co. In 1898 the business became part of International Silver
Co |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HALLMARK SILVERSMITHS INC |
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CHARLES W. HAMILL & CO - Baltimore, MD Active in the 1880s |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HAMILTON & DIESINGER |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
M.F. HAMILTON & SON |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HAMILTON SILVER MFG CO |
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HARTFORD SILVER PLATE CO - Hartford CT listed in Hartford City Directories from 1881 through 1893
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further marks in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HARTFORD STERLING COMPANY - Philadelphia, PA succeeded to Tennant Co., New York. Active 1900/1935 c.
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HAWTHORNE MFG CO - New York, NY out of business c. 1900 |
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JOSEPH HEINRICHS - New York and Paris (France) Business established in New York in 1897. Active since 1925 c. |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HEIRLOOM |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
GEORGE A. HENCKEL & CO |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HENNEGEN, BATES & COMPANY |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HICKOK-MATTHEWS COMPANY |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
M.FRED HIRSCH CO INC |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
JULIUS HOLLISTER |
further marks in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HOLMES & EDWARDS SILVER CO - Bridgeport, CT Started in 1882. Taken over by International Silver Company in 1898
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HOLMES & TUTTLE MFG. CO - Bristol, CT founded in 1851. In 1901 became the American Silver Company |
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HOMAN MANUFACTURING COMPANY - Cincinnati OH Homan Mfg Company was established in 1847, out of business in 1941
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| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HOTCHKISS & SCHREUDER |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HOWARD & CO |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
HYDE & GOODRICH |
The two common forms of plated silver are Sheffield plate and silverplate/electroplate.
Sheffield Plate is a cheaper substitute for sterling, produced by fusing sheets of silver to the top and
bottom of a sheet of copper or base metal. This 'silver sandwich' was then worked into finished pieces. At
first it was only put on one side and later was on top and bottom.
Modern electroplating was invented by Italian chemist Luigi V. Brugnatelli in 1805. Brugnatelli used his
colleague Alessandro Volta's invention of five years earlier, the voltaic pile, to facilitate the first
electrodeposition. Unfortunately, Brugnatelli's inventions were repressed by the French Academy of Sciences
and did not become used in general industry for the following thirty years.
Silver plate or electroplate is formed when a thin layer of pure or sterling silver is deposited
electrolytically on the surface of a base metal.
By 1839, scientists in Britain and Russia had independently devised metal deposition processes similar to
Brugnatelli's for the copper electroplating of printing press plates.
Soon after, John Wright of Birmingham, England, discovered that potassium cyanide was a suitable
electrolyte for gold and silver electroplating.
Wright's associates, George Elkington and Henry Elkington were awarded the first patents for electroplating
in 1840. These two then founded the electroplating industry in Birmingham England from where it spread
around the world.
Common base metals include copper, brass, nickel silver - an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel - and Britannia
metal-a tin alloy with 5-10% antimony. Electroplated materials are often stamped EPNS for electroplated
nickel or silver, or EPBM for electroplated Britannia metal.
Sheffield plate by the fusion process was not made in America, but factories here did turn out quantities of
electroplated silver. In fact, it was so popular that one English firm with several variations of its name,
but all including Dixon, sold quantities of electroplated silver, issued catalogues, and even had a New York
showroom.
Today there is a great deal of American plated silver which has been treasured for years. Many families had
plated silver as well as fine sterling. Some of it was inherited; some prized for sentimental reasons.
If you have this plated ware, and it is as dear to you as fine early silver, then you are among the happy
people of this world.
On plated silver the terms 'triple' and 'quadruple' indicate the number of coatings received by the base
metal in the electroplating process. Naturally the more metal used in the plating the longer the piece
should last. Polishing and wear have taken their toll of much of this plated ware and whether pieces are
worth replating depends on their usefulness and your pleasure in them. If you like them well enough to
spend money on them, then by all means have the work done, but remember a piece is worth at market value
only the metal that is in it, the base metal under the plating being worth very little.
E.P.N.S. (Electroplated Nickel Silver) and EPBM (Electroplated Britannia Metal) are the most
common names attributed to silver plate items. But many other names are used for silver plate:
EPWM, Electroplate on White Metal, EPC, Electroplate On Copper, EPCA, Electro Plated Copper Alloy,
EPGS - Electro Plated German Silver, EPMS - Electro Plated Magnetic Silver, African Silver, Albion Silver,
Alpha Plate, Ambassador Plate, Angle Plate, Argentium, Argentine Plate, Argentum,
Ascetic, Austrian Silver, Brazilian Silver, Britanoid, Cardinal Plate, Electrum, Embassy Plate, Encore, Exquisite,
Insignia Plate, Kingsley Plate, New Silver, Nevada Silver, Norwegian Silver, Pelican Silver, Potosi Silver,
Royal County Plate, Silva Seal, Silverite, Sonora Silver, Spur Silver, Stainless Nickel, Stainless Nickel
Silver, Unity Plate, Venetian Silver, Welbeck Plate,
| AMERICAN SILVER FLATWARE PATTERNS |
| STERLING SILVER OF USA AND CANADA |
| STERLING SILVER OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND |
| BRITISH ELECTROPLATED SILVER |
This is a page of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu,
a 1000 pages richly illustrated website offering all you need to know about
antique silver, sterling silver, silverplate, sheffield plate, electroplate silver,
silverware, flatware, tea services and tea complements, marks and hallmarks, articles,
books, auction catalogs, famous silversmiths (Tiffany, Gorham, Jensen, Elkington, WMF, Reed & Barton, Mappin & Webb),
history, oddities ...
SITE MAP -
SILVER DICTIONARY |
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work in progress on this page - your help, corrections and suggestions will be greatly appreciated -
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