"New" George III silver mug
Weiss
Posts: 9,942 ✭✭✭✭✭
I know it's a little off-topic but antique silver ties in really well with darkside numismatics and appeal to fans of history, precious metals fan, and beer fans 
They're marked with the maker's punch, the year made, the purity (britannia vs sterling ), the city in which produced, and as this piece was made after December 1, 1784, the "duty mark", showing that the requisite tax had been paid to the Crown.
Up until this piece, I'd limited my collection to pre-1776. This one is a little out of that range @ 1793, but the design is so radically different and so forward thinking that I snagged it a few weeks back and it was delivered this week.
Sterling pint mug
John Robbins
London, 1793
11 cm high
13 cm wide
Approx 10.75 troy ounces sterling
The hallmarks, from left to right, indicating Robbins (we think), then the lion passant indicating sterling silver, the crowned leopard's head indicating London manufacture before 1822, the canceled S date mark, indicating 1793, and George III duty mark of 1786-1821.
And to illustrate how this was such a dramatic departure from other similar English pieces a few decades to a few years earlier, the balance of my small collection:
--Severian the Lame
Comments
Those are all very very nice. You will never regret owning them - even if you take an ass-whipping someday when you part with them (unlikely), you will still have been part of a great chain of history.
That's neat & a cool collection!
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNX5On5yDhT46OtnY5uIEth9nyaJBQGS8pd3FXPPAlEkZvlknjs6AjNA_epjkVFVg?key=MUVmZ0RxcjBSR3k4d0VNRmdGeFUwaUl1VEtGUGlB
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipNAIaSqPRMg72Om7F45Y7afv2oe9gSpiHfUtnra
Nice items
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Nice... I would have guessed later than 1793 as well. Congrats
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
Cool collection. I hope you drink beer out of each one after you received it!
Is it acceptable to clean these items or is natural patina preferred like most other collectibles?
My experience in the last three or four years is that collectors generally prefer polished pieces. The main dealers all seem to polish their new acquisitions prior to listing them for sale.
Coming from a numismatic background, and given the somewhat fragile nature of the hallmarks, that's just not something I want to do. I could see maybe once a decade or longer, but even that would feel wrong.
--Severian the Lame
Excellent pieces! I also try to polish as little as possible. I don't mind a little "tarnish"
My YouTube Channel