AMERICAN SILVER PLATE MARKS
MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF USA AND CANADA
SILVERPLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER MAKERS



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This is a page of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu, a 1500 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), history, oddities ...
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AMERICAN SILVER PLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER - ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MAKERS:
- Aa-Al -
AMERICAN SILVERPLATE MARKS
Aa / Al      Am / Az      Ba / Bh      Bi / Bz      C      D      E      F      G      H      I      J      K      L      Ma / Mh      Mi / Mz      N      O      P      Q      Ra / Rn      Ro / Rz      Sa / Sl      Sm / Sz      T      U      V      Wa / Wd      We / Wz      X      Y      Z     

HOW TO READ, DECRYPT AND IDENTIFY THE MARKS
ON AMERICAN SILVERPLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER

LITERAL MARKS - INITIAL LETTERS    A     B     C     D     E     F     G     H     I     J     K     L     M     N     O     P     Q     R     S     T     U     V     W     X     Y     Z     
AMERICAN SILVERSMITHS         ALVIN CORPORATION      BLACK, STARR & FROST       J.E.CALDWELL & CO    CLEMENS FRIEDELL    WILLIAM GALE    GORHAM      HOLMES & EDWARDS    HOTCHKISS & SCHREUDER    INTERNATIONAL SILVER CO      KIRK STIEFF      DANIEL LOW & CO      LUNT SILVERSMITHS      MAUSER MFG. CO      MERIDEN BRITANNIA CO      POOLE SILVER CO      REED & BARTON      BERNARD RICE'S SONS      ROGERS      GEORGE W. SHIEBLER & CO      SHREVE, CRUMP & LOW      SIMPSON, HALL, MILLER & CO      WILLIAM SPRATLING      ARTHUR STONE      TIFFANY & CO      TOWLE      TUTTLE SILVERSMITHS     WALLACE      WATSON COMPANY      E.G. WEBSTER & SON     WHITING MFG CO     WILCOX SILVER PLATE CO
FLATWARE PATTERNS         GORHAM      HOLMES & EDWARDS     INTERNATIONAL SILVER CO      KIRK STIEFF CORPORATION      ONEIDA SILVERSMITHS      REED & BARTON      1847 ROGERS BROS      TOWLE MFG CO      WALLACE SILVERSMITHS INC.     
Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section BERNARD ABEL CO
Academy Silver - New York ACADEMY SILVER - New York                                                                                              
active in 1950'
Acme Silver Company - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
further marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section
ACME SILVER COMPANY - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
active from 1885 to 1895
Acme Silver Plate Co - Boston MA Acme Silver Plate Co - Boston MA Acme Silver Plate Co - Boston MA ACME SILVER PLATE CO - Boston MA
active c. 1885
William Adams William Adams
further marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section
WILLIAM ADAMS
possibly a trade mark of Towle


Adelphi Silver Plate Co - New York Adelphi Silver Plate Co - New York Adelphi Silver Plate Co - New York
further marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section
ADELPHI SILVER PLATE CO - New York
First record 1890
Albany Silver Plate Co Albany Silver Plate Co ALBANY SILVER PLATE CO
a business of I.J. Steane & Co before the forming of Barbour Bros Co
Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section ALBARELLO VALERIO
Alvin Corporation - Providence Rodhe Island Alvin Corporation - Providence Rodhe Island
further marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section
ALVIN CORPORATION - Providence Rodhe Island
Organized as Alvin Mfg. Co. in 1886 by Wm.H.Jamouneau. In 1895 moved from Irvington to Sag Harbour, Long Island. Purchased by Joseph Fahys & Co in 1897. Its name was changed in Alvin Silver Co. in 1919. Since 1928 is a division of the Gorham Corporation.

ALVIN CORPORATION: HISTORY, MARKS, FLATWARE PATTERNS


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,

SILVERPLATE MARKS
Pelton Bros. Silver Plate Co. hallmarkRogers & Bro. - Waterbury CT mark   Mappin & Webb markWalker & Hall hallmark Devices of Old Sheffiel Plate Herrmann factory silver plate mark
USA & Canada      English Electroplate     Old Sheffied Plate      Continental     

STERLING SILVER OF USA AND CANADA
AMERICAN STERLING SILVER MARKS
Aa / Am      An / Az      Ba / Bh      Bi / Bz      Ca / Cn      Co / Cz      Da / Dt      Du / Dz      E      Fa / Fn      Fo / Fz      Ga / Gh      Gi / Gz      Ha / Hh      Hi / Hz      I-J      K      La / Lh      Li / Lz      M      N      O      P - Q      Ra / Rn      Ro / Rz      Sa / Sh      Si / Sz      T - U - V      Wa / WG      Wh / Wz      X - Y - Z     

HOW TO READ, DECRYPT AND IDENTIFY THE MARKS
ON AMERICAN STERLING SILVER

SILVER MANUFACTURERS: MARKS, HISTORY AND INFORMATION
Peter Charles Faberge mark    Gorham Athenic hallmark    International Silver Company mark    Georg Jensen hallmark 1945-1951    Kirk & Son mark    Meriden Britannia Company mark    Reed & Barton mark    Rogers Bros mark    Tiffany hallmarks    Towle Silversmiths mark    Wallace Silversmiths mark    Wiener Werkstatte monogram    WMF hallmarks   
Fabergé    Gorham    International Silver Co    Georg Jensen    Kirk Stieff    Meriden Britannia    Reed & Barton    Rogers    Tiffany & Co    Towle    Wallace    Wiener Werkstatte    WMF   


This is a page of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu, a 1500 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, Bateman Family), history, oddities ...
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