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 Replies: 12 / Views: 9,709 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
842 Posts |
I saw some nicely toned silverware at a flea market today. I bought 5 forks and one soup spoon for $1 a piece. I looked them up on the internet but could not find much useful information about them. Perhaps someone here could tell me what I have? - Spoon - 1881 Rogers A1 - Pat. Jan. of '16
- Fork - 1881 Rogers A1 - Pat. Sept. 1898
- Fork - Wm. A. Rogers SXR - Pat. May 14 (four of these)
I imagine that these are silverplate, but how much are they really worth? Did I get a good deal? And is there a way to determine how much silver is present in these pieces? Thanks for any and all help! |
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Valued Member
United States
279 Posts |
Hopefully I'm wrong, but I think most silverware people come across by WM Rogers is silverplated.
I did a bit of reading on WM Rogers, because I have come across a lot of it and it seemed like he made silverware in the 1800's, but the brand was bought by major silverplating companies, which is the most common you'll run across.
What I'm not sure of, is how to tell the difference between his real silverware, and the silver plated items.
I'm sure others will chime in.
I wish I could be more help.
Edited by NYBrian84
06/23/2012 2:08 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
 A1 is standard Rogers silverplate marking. The silver weight is negligable probably less than 1/20th of the weight. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Silver plated items will sometimes have the words "silver plate" stamped onto them, usually on the back of a fork or spoon handle or at the base of a knife blade. If it has "925" or "Sterling" anywhere on it, then it is likely 92.5% sterling silver and considerably more valuable than silver plated items.
I've looked at a lot of the silver items in our house and they are all plated so not worth much.
A few silver buyers will purchase silver plated items but they need to collect a lot of it to make it worth their while... think hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds since silver plating tends to be fairly thin.
An easy and non-destructive way to test for silver plate is to bring a magnet near it. A magnet will usually stick to the base metal of a silver plated item but not to a sterling silver item. This is not fool proof by any means as a magnet will not stick to most stainless steel items either.
There are test kits for silver but that only tests the surface and not the inside of the item.
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Valued Member
United States
142 Posts |
Rogers stuff is all silverplate. The actual silver content is close to nil, as is with all plated items.
As for what you paid, it's up to you decide if you like it enough to value each piece @ $1. It's definitely not worth that in silver, but if you like it, plan on using it, or enjoy it as par of a collection, then it's value can be well beyond the $1 you paid.
And fwiw, 99.9% of the time if silverware is not marked sterling or 800 or 830 or 925, then it's plated.
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New Member
United States
17 Posts |
Chances are they are plated. But at $1 you cant really go wrong if you like them. I had a silver set and every piece was stamped "Sterling" pretty boldly. I would imagine if its made of silver, they would stamp the heck out of it. I have also see a Pie server that was stamped "Warented 1/20 dwt". I think sometimes Silver Knives can be weighted, and have sand or something in them? I think the blades are almost always stainless even if the handle is silver.
If you like them they are worth $1 but me personally I dont like the old silverware. Its kinda junky, wouldnt want it hanging around JMO. Also I have delt with a bunch of silver plated items that for some reason smells terrible, like sulfur?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
863 Posts |
yea I'm just learning about silver myself. almost all of the silver stuff you see at yard saled is plated. it should be stamped if it is real. also many things are weighted and not pure silver. an example of this is a candle stick. they weigh the base with a wax or sand.
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Pillar of the Community
1283 Posts |
All mine are stamped "sterling" somewhere on the handles.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
I can spot a tarnished Rogers brothers PLATTED platter from 25 yards away, lol....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
Around 25 cents a pound is what BF paid on plated items seems like....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
Quote:
I can spot a tarnished Rogers brothers PLATTED platter from 25 yards away, lol YUP!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4008 Posts |
Quote:
I can spot a tarnished Rogers brothers PLATTED platter from 25 yards away, lol.... Not surprising that a "Hawk" would have eagle eyes!  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
A lot of the plated stuff in Aus has EPNS in ornate symbols punched into the item somewhere,It is still only electroplated Nickle silver.
The good stuff always has a hall mark or something similar to denote that it is silver and not plated
Edited by trout1105
06/24/2012 4:25 pm
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Replies: 12 / Views: 9,709 |
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Posted 06/23/2012 2:22 pm
