Help Cleaning Steel Knife Blades

A reader emailed us this question:

I want to ask a question about pitting on steel blades attached to silver handles: does anyone have any suggestions how to remove it? I have a lovely 1930's set of sold silver Kings Pattern dinner knives and the steel blades are pitted. I don't particularly want to have the blades replaced. I wonder whether any of your bloggers could suggest a solution to my problem.

I've not had much luck with this issue. I would also like to find a better way of polishing out abrasions on stainless steel blades. Does anyone out there have a solution? Send us an email or post a comment to this post.

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Dessert Fork vs. Luncheon Fork

Many patterns include a fork that is roughly 7 inches long - this size is called a "luncheon" fork by many. We propose that such forks might actually have been designated "dessert" forks by the manufacturer. Look below at the picture taken from The "Buttercup" Spoons and Forks printed by Gorham Manufacturing Co. in 1900.

This document illustrates the pieces in actual size. The dessert fork is about 6 7/8 inches long. It appears to be ever so slightly wider and shorter than the "luncheon" fork we see today in the Buttercup pattern. Similar dessert forks also appear in Gorham catalogs of the same era for Strasbourg and Chantilly.

So, measure your forks carefully and make sure you know what you are buying when you add to your collection. We are interested in your thoughts on this subject. Leave a comment or send an email.

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The First "Revere Bowl"

In honor of our nation's birthday, this seems an appropriate topic for a silver-related blog. The term Revere bowl brings to mind a bowl with simple, classic lines. Although I think of a Revere bowl as being made of sterling, or at least silver plate, bowls of this shape have been made from many different materials. We know that Paul Revere was a silversmith so the connection between his name and a silver bowl is natural. But where did the design really originate?

The first Revere bowl is in the collection of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It's actually called the Sons of Liberty Bowl or Liberty Bowl. Paul Revere was commissioned in 1768 to make the bowl by fifteen members of the Sons of Liberty, a secret organization to which Revere belonged. According to the museum's web site:

The bowl honors ninety-two members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives who refused to rescind their letter sent throughout the colonies protesting the Townshend Acts of 1767, which taxed tea, paper, glass, and other commodities imported from England. This act of civil disobedience by the "Glorious Ninety-Two" was the first public act of rebellion against the British crown and a major step leading to the American Revolution.

You can find much more information about the bowl and many pictures at the museum link above.

May we all have a joyous and safe Fourth of July!

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Another Reference Source - Hallmarks & Patterns

We received a comment today from the folks at Antique Sterling Research. Their blog has an impressive list of hallmarks and pattern identification information. If you are trying to identify hallmarks or a sterling flatware pattern, check it out.

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Piece of the Day - Chocolate Muddler

Now and then, we'll post a "Piece of the Day" as we run across interesting pieces. Today's piece is a Gorham Buttercup chocolate muddler. We chose it because we like the name! The picture below was copied from The "Buttercup" Spoons and Forks, published in 1900 by Gorham Manufacturing Company. The piece is 8 3/8 inches long.

We have never used a chocolate muddler but we read on WorthPoint.com that they are used to stir hot chocolate in chocolate pots to prevent the chocolate from settling in the bottom.

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Another Reference Source

We've come across another web site that answers questions about sterling. We don't profess to have all the answers and welcome new resources. In fact, we recently submitted a question to this web site ourselves!

Michelle at allexperts.com provides quick and helpful responses to questions about sterling.

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We're Now Linked to Facebook!

We've set up a "page" in Facebook called Sterling Silver. The goal is to have Facebook users interested in sterling silver become "fans" of the new page. Most posts on the page will actually link back to posts in this blog.

If you are a Facebook user and would like to become a fan, log in to Facebook, search for "Sterling Silver" and look for the picture of the salad fork on a black background. Click on "Become a Fan". If you are already a regular reader of this blog, the new benefit you will receive by becoming a fan is the ability to see comments left by other Facebook users.

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Gorham Buttercup Hallmark Help Needed

We received a request from a reader regarding Gorham hallmarks on the Buttercup sterling flatware pattern specifically. Here's the question.

If a Buttercup piece has the old hallmarks of "Lion/Anchor/G Sterling", does it always also have a reference to "Patent 1900" on the piece?

This reader has some Buttercup pieces with old Gorham hallmarks that do not have any reference to "Patent 1900" on them and the reader is concerned. Some of these pieces were inherited and some were purchased over the years from a large, reputable dealer in used sterling flatware.

I have some guesses about this but would rather have an explanation from someone who knows for sure. Post a comment or send an email if you have the answer.

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Ice Cream Fork & Spoon Caveat Emptor

This is a follow up to an earlier post, "Made Up Sterling Flatware Pieces".

I'm seeing a number of sterling "Ice Cream Forks" and "Ice Cream Spoons" being advertised for sale. Be aware that many of these are not original pieces from the manufacturer. They are pieces that have been created from other pieces. For example, someone might take a spoon and carve out tines to make it look like an ice cream fork.

To be fair, most of the sellers have identified the pieces as being "custom". Also, many manufacturers did make legitimate ice cream forks and spoons.

So, read the fine print carefully before you buy.

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How Can I Tell If It's Real Silver? - Part 2

Back in February, we posted an article, "How Can I Tell If It's Real Silver". This is a followup to that post.

There is another way to try to identify the metal content of a piece - by using an acid test - literally! We purchased a test kit with a small vial of acid. The metal will react with the acid and the color to which the liquid changes is a clue regarding metal content. We tried it on a sterling piece and it appeared to work. In the case of "92.5% silver", which is the definition of sterling, the color was a dark red.

So, if you really want to do this, you can find these acid kits on eBay. Be aware that you have to scratch the piece a bit in order to perform the test. The acid also dulls the piece and leaves a mark. You probably can polish that out. You can use this kit to try to identify:

• Pure silver
• 92.5% silver (sterling)
• 80.0% silver
• 50% silver
• Lead
• Tin
• Brass
• Copper
• Nickel
• Zinc
• Palladium
• Gold

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Why is My Sterling Candelabra Worth So Little?

We receive questions from time to time from people who want to know why they can't get more cash for their sterling candelabra and single candlesticks. After all, it is sterling!

One answer may be that the piece really does not have all that much sterling as a percentage of total composition. Many pieces like this are mostly a cement compound with a thin covering of sterling. The piece might also contain lead, wax, sand or some other supporting material. The sterling covering could be very thin. There may be so little sterling overall that it's not worth even selling it for scrap.

I'm not saying this is the case for all pieces like this but it is true for many. If I was buying such a piece, I would be very conservative with my offer price because I would not know how much sterling is actually in the piece.

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New Information on Silver Plate Value

We may have done owners of silver plated pieces a disservice! In our post, "Do Used Silverplate Pieces Have Any Value", we implied that they had very little value. Well, we were not totally accurate.

Yesterday, we were talking with a silver appraiser regarding two candelabra pieces. The smaller candelabra was made of sterling and the larger more elaborate piece was silver plated. The appraiser valued the silver plated piece at about three times the value of the sterling piece. His reasons:

• The silver plated piece was made by a well-known English manufacturer; it had a very nice design and was in excellent condition
• The sterling piece was plainer, its design was of the 1960's (not very distinctive) and just not as nice looking

So, we stand corrected. Silver plated pieces of high quality and nice design can be valuable.

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Consignment Shops for Selling

I happened to be in a nice consignment shop today and was impressed with their display of sterling pieces. I don't know why I have not mentioned this approach to selling sterling before. So, if you are looking to sell something, this might be worth trying. Here are some points that come to mind (my opinions only):

• I think selling a complete set might be better than selling odd pieces.
• Find a shop that deals in high end items, such as nice antiques. It should have a good assortment of sterling pieces for sale.
• Be reasonable in your pricing. Do your homework before going to the shop.
• Make sure you can remove your sterling from the shop after a reasonable time.
• Polish your sterling!

I probably would not go to a consignment shop to hunt for pieces to fill in an existing set but if I was in the market for a complete set, I might search there.

I'd be interested in hearing about your experience with such shops. Add a comment or send us an email.

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New Links to Current Commodity Silver Price

We receive lots of questions about the market price of pure silver. So, we've added a couple of new features.

Firstly, in the right column of the screen, you will see a small graph containing the current day's pricing of commodity silver. This chart is provided by http://www.kitco.com/.

Secondly, we've added new links to "Our Favorite Links" in the right column of the screen. Clicking on "NYMEX Commodity Silver Prices" will take you to a web page of the New York Mercantile Exchange that displays more information about silver prices. The "Quotes" in the lower right of that screen gives you a snapshot of recent quote activity.

FYI, today, May 29, 2009, the ending price was $15.60 per Troy ounce. That means that the scrap value of a Chantilly place fork in terms of silver content is just under $25.00 today. If you had to sell your fork to a scrap dealer, you could probably get between $13.00 and $15.00 for it.

We also have added a link to a "Precious Metal Calculator". There are several calculators out there but we like this one because of its simplicity. Here are the items to be input:

• Enter the weight in grams
• Select "grams" as the units
• Select ".925 Silver" as the metal
• Enter "-40" in as the markup/discount
• Click "Calculate Value"

The displayed value is a rough idea of what a scrap dealer would be willing to pay you for your sterling.

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Wallace Hallmark Info Request

We received the following request from a blog reader. Can anyone help? I have already referred the reader to www.925-1000.com.

Hi -- I am interested in understanding (seeing) the various hallmarks Wallace used on its sterling pieces, and when they were used. I've seen several.

I am specifically interested in the two patterns called "Irving" and "Old Atlanta", and have suspected that some pieces, which were said to be Irving, are actually Old Atlanta. Now I'm considering some pieces the I think are Old Atlanta, but the seller is insisting that the hallmark shows it is actually Irving, since it is an older hallmark.

I appreciate your help with this. Can't seem to find anything that details the dates with a photo of the marking.

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Identification Help Request

Here is a request we received from a blog reader.

I am sending you a picture of a Hallmark that we cannot find. We have looked all over and no one seems to know where it comes from or what it means. Can you look at the Hallmark on my old tableware and tell me where I can find where it came from. The Hallmark I am sending is on the old case as well as on the back of the tableware.

This is really an unusual one. Does anyone know its origin? Post a comment or send us an email.

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What does "E P" Mean on Silverplate?

We received this question from a blog reader:

I have a Gorham silver plate coffee pot. On the bottom of the coffee pot it reads in script Gorham followed by an E then an anchor inside of shield followed by a P then the word Brass. What does the E and P mean? I thought it might stand for electroplate.

We really don't know the answer but we found this review on eBay, SILVER BY GORHAM MARKED E P. Does anyone out there have a better idea? Send us an email or add a comment if you do.

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What Does "HH" Mean?

HH is an abbreviation for Hollow Handle. Most sterling flatware pieces are made completely of sterling silver. However, pieces such as knives and pie/cake servers often have blades made of other material such as stainless steel. The sterling handles of these pieces generally are 100% sterling but they are also hollow. The hollow part will be filled with some sort of epoxy to hold the blade firmly in place.

Some pieces, such as master butter knives and butter spreaders, may come in multiple versions within a pattern. Some may have hollow handles and some may have "flat handles" (FH). The flat handle pieces most likely will be all sterling, including the blades, whereas the hollow handle pieces may have non-sterling components.

See the post on this blog titled, "Butter Handling Utensils" for more explanation. You can find it quickly by clicking on "Butter Utensils" under "Labels" in the right column of the screen.

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Do Newer Flatware Pieces Contain Less Silver?

Let's assume we're talking about sterling pieces. All sterling pieces contain 92.5% pure silver so, ounce for ounce, newer pieces contain the same amount of silver as older pieces. The key phrase here is "ounce for ounce". Manufacturers have been known to manufacture similar pieces with different weights over the years. So, for example, if a fork manufactured in 1940 weighs 60 grams and the same fork in the same pattern manufactured in 1990 weighs 55 grams, the newer fork will have less silver content simply because it has less overall weight than the older piece.

When comparing pieces, you should:

• Make sure the two pieces are the same (not luncheon fork versus dinner fork, for example)
• Weigh them, preferably using grams as the unit of measure
• Assume the heavier piece has more silver

There is one caveat - it's difficult to compare knives and other pieces with non-sterling components.

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Identification Help Request

A blog reader has asked for help in identifying a piece. The item in the picture below weighs about three ounces and holds about one ounce liquid. Can anyone out there tell us what it is?

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I Want My Sterling to Tarnish!

What? Why in the world would you want your silver to tarnish? Well, there actually is at least one valid reason.

Many people who own patterns with intricate designs appreciate the effect of slight tarnish buildup deep within the crevices of the design. This enhances the lines of the design and adds some visual depth. This type of tarnish actually has a name - "French gray".

A problem arises when someone adds a brand new piece to an older set. The new piece may look somewhat bland compared to the old pieces because the French gray has not had time to develop on the new piece. One solution is to let the new piece sit out in the open air for a while. We performed a test on a like-new piece of Gorham Buttercup by letting it sit on an open shelf in the kitchen area for about three months. After that time, it began to match older pieces of Buttercup with French gray. We cleaned the smooth surfaces.

Now if you are in a real hurry to develop some tarnish, you can use the boiled egg trick. Hard boil an egg, cut it into pieces and place it in a plastic bag. If you place a piece of sterling in the bag, it will tarnish dramatically in a few hours. The problem is that this tarnish will not be embedded deeply in the crevices of the design as it would have been had it developed over a long time.

If you want French gray, we recommend letting it develop naturally over time.

One word of caution - chemical dip cleaners will remove your French gray.

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Where Did the Term, "Sterling", Originate?

We don't believe in duplicating good work already done. So, for a good discussion on this topic, look in the right sidebar for the listing of "Our Favorite Links". Click on the "Wikipedia Sterling Discussion" link. You'll find several theories regarding how the word, "sterling", came to mean what it does today as it applies to silver.

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Identification Help Request

A blog reader sent a request to us for help in identifying the pattern of a master butter knife. It appears to be a very old Gorham piece. It is along the lines of Versailles and Mythologique. It’s 7 ½” long, weighs 49 grams – woman with wheat and a bull’s head on the front and a gargoyle face on the back.

Can anyone out there help? Attach a comment or send us an email if you can.

Thanks.

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My Salad Forks Don't Weigh the Same!

Don't be alarmed. Manufacturers have, over the years, modified the weight of flatware pieces slightly. It seems to us that weights have decreased gradually. In some cases, manufacturers have identified specific weights on pieces but not always (see our post, Gorham Weight Marks).

Generally speaking, weight differences are not all that noticeable. So, it's OK to mix different weights in the same set as far as we are concerned.

One note of caution is worth mentioning. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. For example, Gorham makes a dinner fork and a place fork in its Buttercup pattern. Both are 7.5 inches long overall but there is quite a bit of difference in weight (see our post, About Forks).

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Selling Sterling for Scrap: Concrete Example

We have received lots of questions about selling sterling flatware for scrap value. We have responded with conjectures about how this might happen and how much you would receive.

In order to give readers more concrete information, we decided to actually sell some for scrap. We had some sterling flatware pieces that were bent or otherwise badly damaged. We sent them to a mail order buyer who advertises daily on their web site what they will pay.

The buyer received our pieces, called us to confirm the purchase price and paid us the same day via PayPal. The price we received was about 65% of the current spot price for silver. That seemed reasonable to us because the buyer has to make a profit. We paid the postage to send the pieces.

If you have specific questions, email us. We don't endorse any buyers but this one did follow through as he said he would.

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Testimonial: Wenol Metal Polish

We have avoided endorsing products but we have had such good success with Wenol Metal Polish when dealing with severely tarnished or poorly maintained pieces that we thought a testimonial was in order. We buy two or three tubes at a time! It's good.

We were not asked to do this by the the Wenol people nor are we being compensated by them. We just appreciate a good product.

Be aware that Wenol contains a mild abrasive and might remove traces of silver during the polishing process. Be especially careful with silver plate pieces.

We don't sell this product but you can find it simply by typing "Wenol" in the search window in the right column and clicking "Search".

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How Do I Remove Rust From Sterling Flatware?

Rust on sterling flatware? I question the fact that you actually have sterling flatware. Tarnish, maybe, but rust?

Perhaps there might be some rust issue with silver plate knife blades or with the joint where the blade meets the handle but this is just a guess. I never have seen rust on sterling pieces. I welcome comments from readers who have different information.

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Place Knives Mistakenly Called Butter Knives

I see ads from sellers now and then that say something like this, "Place setting consisting of fork, butter knife, salad fork & teaspoon". This makes me suspicious. Does this seller really have a place setting that includes a butter knife and no luncheon, place or dinner knife??

For some reason, some people call normal knives, "butter knives". I have no idea why. So, if the ad you are reviewing has this type of description, contact the seller and ask for the knife's length. Be sure you know what you are buying.

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I Can't Find Hallmarks on My Knives

You may still have sterling handle knives even if you can't find any hallmarks. It's common for the hallmarks on old knife handles to get buffed or polished away over many years of use. We have a pretty strong magnifying glass and we look for faint imprints or even pieces of letters that indicate the original hallmarks.

In recent history, manufacturers began putting all the hallmarks on the knife blades. You might see, for example, "Stainless Blade Sterling Handle" imprinted on a knife blade. But, it the old days, the sterling hallmark was placed on the handle.

So, if you have a knife that your are worried about, hold it under a good light and a strong magnifying glass. Gradually tilt the knife handle various ways to look for hints of the original hallmarks. Tilt slowly and look carefully. Some hallmarks may run down the side of the handle; others might be at the handle shoulder where it meets the blade.

The picture below illustrates the problem. We took a picture of an old Gorham Buttercup knife handle. By adjusting the brightness and contrast (resulting in the golden color), we are just able to make out the words "Sterling Handle".



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What Does "Estate Condition" Mean?

We have no idea! It depends upon the person using the term.

We've seen sellers describe sterling flatware pieces as being in "estate" condition. We think they usually mean that the pieces are used but as far as we are concerned, the term does not define the condition. Some add descriptive words, such as "Very Fine Estate Condition". If I am familiar with a seller and understand how he describes pieces, this description will help. But if I am not familiar with a seller, I still don't really know what the piece looks like.

Many sellers include definitions of their descriptive terms when they offer a piece for sale. Then, at least, you have some idea of actual condition. For example, when we sell something, we assign an evaluation to it using the following definitions:

• Excellent Condition: May show very slight signs of wear; might be tarnished because of age and have a few faint scratches.
• Fine Condition: May show minor scratches; minimal damage; patterns and relief will be well-defined.
• Very Good Condition: Patterns may show wear; may show signs of regular use.
• Good Condition: Pattern may be worn; signs of damage or improper cleaning may be seen.

We sometimes will say that a piece is in fine to excellent condition if it is between categories in our judgement. Sometimes for knives and other pieces with distinct components, we will say something like the blades are in very good condition and the handles are in fine condition. We often add another descriptive sentence or two such as, "We did not rate the spoons as 'excellent' because they have light abrasions from normal use."

If you are buying a piece of used sterling flatware, you have the right to understand its condition. If the seller is not clear, ask specific questions before buying.

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Finding Buyers for Your Sterling Flatware

We receive lots of questions and comments regarding locating a buyer for sterling flatware. We'll try to be unbiased in our response - we buy sterling flatware ourselves.

First, we recommend that you read our other posts related to selling flatware. In the right sidebar on this screen, click on the Label, "Selling". This will cause all the articles related to selling to be displayed together.

Now, here are some suggestions for locating a buyer:

• Send an email to us describing what you have. Click on "View My Complete Profile" in the right sidebar of this screen to access our email address. You didn't think we really would be unbiased, did you?
• We've mentioned eBay and craigslist.org in earlier posts. They are both good options and the latter option is free. Just be aware that scammers prey on craigslist sellers a lot.
• Try your local jewelry stores. If they won't buy it, maybe they can refer you to someone.
• In larger cities, you might find specialty stores that buy and sell used sterling pieces. In Atlanta, for example, we found businesses like this in the Yellow Pages under the heading, "Silverware".
• Search the ads on this blog for buyers. In the right sidebar are ten ads that directly relate to silver. Near the very bottom of this screen are roughly twenty similar ads. Most ads are for buyers, sellers or related products such as polish. You have to scroll through the ads to see them all.
• When scanning the ads, remember that sellers probably are also buyers. Contact them and ask how to sell to them. Some have this information posted on their web sites. We see ads frequently from at least three large companies that buy and sell. If you want more details about them, send an email to us. Google changes the ads every time you visit this blog, so check the ads every time.

We always welcome emails if you have specific questions.

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Can I Replace My Knife Blades?

Yes. New blades can be attached to your sterling handles. If you have silverplate blades, you can also have them re-plated.

Check with local resources like jewelers or enter "sterling flatware repair" in the search block in the right sidebar and search for a repair facility.

Before replacing blades, discuss with your repair source the shape of the blade and how close the new blade will match your old ones. Remember that most sterling flatware manufacturers make knives with several blade lengths and shapes.

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Why Do My Stainless Steel Knife Blades Pit?

Stainless steel blades are tough but they can be damaged. Pitting is most often caused by prolonged contact with salt and foods that contain salt. They also can be pitted through long contact with water. Here are some tips.

• Don't soak knives for prolonged periods
• Don't use "rinse and hold" cycle with knives in the dishwasher
• Wash and dry soon after use

The best rule is to hand wash all your sterling flatware soon after use with mild soap, then dry immediately.

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Online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks

If you are interested in researching hallmarks found on various types of old silver pieces, here is a site you will want to review:

Online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Maker's Marks

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New Google Sterling Search Feature

We have added a Google search capability to our site. We recommend that you use this search tool if you wish to search for pieces of sterling flatware. Just type in some details and click on "Search". We recommend you include at least the following search terms:

• Manufacturer name
• Pattern name
• Specific piece you are looking for

Examples are "Gorham Strasbourg fork", "Wallace Grande Baroque butter knife", etc. We have already embedded additional search criteria to help locate pieces you might be interested in.

When the search results window is opened, there may be advertisements included (top, side and/or bottom of the screen). These also are targeted to what you are looking for so if an ad looks promising, click on it.

Speaking of ads, we have also added advertisement links in the right sidebar and at the bottom of the screen. These are targeted as well so take a look if you are interested. You have to scroll through the ads to see them all. Generally, both sets of ads include:

• Potential sellers of sterling
• Potential buyers of sterling
• Potential sellers of ancillary products such as silver polish

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Removing Monograms from Sterling

Is it possible to remove monograms from sterling pieces? Yes, but we have not done this and don't plan on doing so.

As far as we know, there are two methods of removing monograms or other engraved content.

1. Buffing or filing the piece down to a point below the level of the engraving
2. Filling in the engraved portion with melted silver alloy

The first method is probably performed more often but has these disadvantages:

• The buffed area will now be much shinier than the rest of the piece because the patina acquired over the years will be gone
• The buffed area will be deformed

The second method sounds less intrusive but actually may be worse because there may be color differences and heavy buffing is still required.

We prefer to treat a monogram as part of the history of the piece. If it's offensive to you, then don't buy the piece! We have a sterling coffee/tea service set we bought at an auction many years ago. It has a beautiful "A" engraved on each piece. We pretend it once belonged to the Astor family!

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Made Up Sterling Flatware Pieces

You will sometimes see a sterling flatware piece offered for sale that you have never heard of. There may be a good reason - the manufacturer may never have created such a piece! We have seen some recent examples on eBay that are obviously not found in the real pattern's list of offerings. In most cases, the eBay description has disclosed that the piece was "custom" but sometimes the disclosure is buried in fine print. We don't want to malign any sellers so our example eBay ad below is a fake (we haven't seen an ad for a sweet potato fork). But it's close enough for you to be aware of what you might run across.

Buttercup by Gorham Sweet Potato Fork
This sweet potato fork was custom manufactured by a professional silversmith.

How can it be a true Gorham piece if it was "custom manufactured"? In some examples we've seen, the seller has cut out the two center tines of a standard luncheon fork and has called what's left some special type of serving piece (and has tried to charge a lot more).

Our Made Up "Sweet Potato Fork"

Following is a paragraph regarding this subject that we found in a popular book, Warman's Sterling Silver Flatware Value & Identification Guide.

Some... dealers are making up pieces, and in many cases are not telling the public. They are making cheese scoops from tablespoons, horse radish scoops from dessert spoons, baby pushers from teaspoons, and the market is loaded with asparagus servers made using dinner knife handles... Plain serving tablespoons are pierced to produce the slotted tablespoons, ice cream forks are made from teaspoons, especially in the early patterns, and so are the ice cream spoons. The only way one can tell the difference is via knowledge, knowing the original form of the bowl in the pattern.

So, always read the description carefully. Make sure you know what you buying.
English server, spinach fork, baked potato fork, pierced serving spoon, nut pick, olive spoon, relish scoop, horseradish scoop, brandy warmer, pate server
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Which Pattern Should I Select?

The selection of a sterling flatware pattern can be a tough decision. So we thought we would give you some points to consider, trying to add some logic and order to what is otherwise an emotional, and sometimes irrational, decision process.

We're going to focus on the new bride. We realize that pattern selections are made by people in other situations but we think the vast majority of pattern selections are made during the time leading up to a wedding. So, here's our list of points to ponder when considering a pattern. They start out with pragmatic considerations, then moving toward more abstract thoughts.

1. Is the pattern still being manufactured? A "yes" is not required absolutely because many patterns are available in the secondary market but it's nice to know you can buy new pieces if you like. You may actually enjoy the challenge of finding discontinued pieces.
2. Is there a robust secondary market for used pieces? Because costs keep rising, more and more people are purchasing used pieces in good condition. It makes sense financially. A good place to check is eBay. Search for pieces being offered in the pattern you're considering. A robust market would be indicated if you see more than 200 individual listings. For example, it's common to see more than 500 listings for Gorham Chantilly pieces. A robust market could be a negative indicator for you personally if you are someone who likes to own unique things. You will not be unique if you select Chantilly as your pattern.
3. What's the price for new and used pieces relative to other patterns? If you plan to collect place settings for 16 with 8 pieces per setting, expensive patterns could be a burden. Of course, you are also affecting the pocketbooks of people who might give you pieces.
4. What pattern does Grandma have? Are you likely to inherit her flatware? If you don't like Grandma's pattern, forget this point.
5. Does tarnish drive you crazy? Look at the Gorham Buttercup spoon below. Tarnish will accumulate deep within the design and many Buttercup owners think it actually enhances the outline of the pattern. We agree. There is a nicer term for this called, "French gray". Would you agree or would you be constantly trying to remove the tarnish from the crevices? If the latter is the case, Buttercup probably is not for you.
6. How does the pattern look sitting beside your dishes?
7. How does it relate to the size, style and furnishings of your home, especially the dining area? Are you Bauhaus or Baroque? Is the pattern heavy and intricate or does it have relatively clean lines?
8. Do you plan to use your sterling flatware every day or only on very special occasions?
9. Do you like tried and true solutions or are you adventurous? Is it important for you to have a unique presentation? (Refer back to point 2.)
10. Does the pattern add special value? Does it remind you of family dinners past? Does it take you somewhere - New Orleans or Boston or Paris?
11. What pattern does your fiance's ex-girlfriend have? You might want something else!

The bottom line question is, "Is it you?" Does it relate to your taste in other areas? Does it already feel familiar to you? Will you value it for years to come?

Your pattern will be part of your "signature". Look at the two spoons in the pictures below. You may not be inclined to select either as your pattern but you will be drawn to one more than the other. Maybe that will help reduce the number of choices you are considering.

Comments from others are welcome.

Gorham Fairfax

Gorham Buttercup

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Etruscan Salad Fork Length Mystery

Here is a question we received as a comment to another post regarding Gorham Etruscan pieces. We've copied it here to gain more attention in the hope that someone has an answer. I don't.

Hi, I have recently listed a set of 4 Gorham Etruscan salad forks on ebay. It has been brought to my attention by a potential buyer that he has 7 salad forks that are different and he has been looking for one to match the other 7 he has. Low and behold! I seem to have the 8th fork. It is just a hair shorter than the others, a wee bit narrower and has beveled sides just before the stem. He states Replacement.com has said there is no difference in the Gorham Etruscan salad forks. Have you ever heard of or seen such a difference? Is this possibly not a salad fork? I have a photo I will email you showing the difference. Thanks so much, I appreciate your input.

This is the picture that was emailed. The fork on the right is the one is question

If you have any ideas, please post a comment or email us.

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Sterling Flatware at Antique Shows

If you are planning to buy sterling flatware, here's another option - visit an antique show near your home. For example, there is a huge show one weekend every month in our city, Atlanta, sponsored by Scott Antique Markets. The same company has shows in Ohio.

An antique show typically will host many dealers, some of whom will bring sterling silver for sale. Dealers selling sterling can be classified roughly into these groups.

• Dealers selling all types of antiques may have some sets or individual pieces of flatware. You have to walk the entire show to find pieces in dealers' booths that interest you.
• Some dealers specializing in sterling flatware carry an inventory of used individual pieces and may have a wide variety. Some dealers polish it all; others leave it tarnished and sell for a little less. Sometimes these dealers have bargain tables where they will pile up pieces in a random method. Most of these bargains are less popular patterns or pieces not in great shape. However, we have bought a few pieces off tables like this at great prices.
• Other dealers specializing in sterling flatware may focus on sets only. You may find some very nice sets but they also may be at a hefty price.

The prices you can expect to see at an antique show are roughly comparable to "Fixed Price" or "Buy It Now" items offered by "power" sellers on eBay. Many dealers are willing to negotiate, especially on the last day of the show. Of course, the big advantage is that you can see the condition of the pieces first hand. You don't have to pay shipping but you may have to pay sales tax.

If you have some sterling flatware you want to sell, you could take it to a show and offer it to dealers. The price they will offer you probably will not be as much as you want. Expect 25-45% of the price they are selling it for.

If you don't know when shows come to your area, ask your friends. It's a popular thing. You might also check the Antique Week web site. You have to register there but it's free. Click on "Shows" in their heading.

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Successful Identification - Etruscan Ice Cream Spoon

The following comment was attached to our post, "About Soup Spoons". I think we have responded with a successful answer so I'm posting it here to brag a bit!

Hi, I have a question & hope someone can help me. I have 12 Gorham Etruscan spoons. Both are measuring at 5 3/8". One set of six has a bit of a lip on both sides of the bowl, closest to the stem of the spoon & a bit more of a fan shaped bowl than the 5 O'clock spoon. What type of spoon is the one with the lip?

I suggested to the author that pictures be emailed to me. Here are the two that were sent. The color, brightness and contrast were adjusted by me to try to define the edges a little better.

I located some pictures of Etruscan ice cream spoons on a couple of dealer web sites and sent links to the person who left the question. It appears that we have identified the spoon correctly as an ice cream spoon. If anyone has a differing opinion, comments are welcome.

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Is it Flatware, Cutlery, Silverware, Tableware or What?

What's the generic name you use for your set of forks, knives, spoons, etc.? We use the term, "flatware", to describe such a set of dining utensils. This seems to be a fairly common term in the United States and extends to sets made of all types of material, not just sterling. So, to be specific, we always use the term, "sterling flatware", if that's what we are describing. Sometimes, you see this word misspelled as "flatwear".

Outside the United States, the term "cutlery", seems to be used a lot to describe what we call flatware. Here in the United States, we often use this term only to include items that "cut" such as knives and scissors.

In the South, we hear the term, "silverware", being used to describe what we think of as flatware, even if the pieces contain no silver! For example, someone might say, "I use my everyday silverware most of the time but on Sunday, I use my good silverware." This could be translated as, "I use my stainless steel flatware most of the time but on Sunday, I use my sterling flatware."

"Tableware" is also used but this term may broader in that it might include other dining pieces such as dishes.

Also in the South, we hear the term, "silver", being used to define sterling or silverplate flatware. I can remember hearing such phrases as, "On Thanksgiving Day, we set the table with our silver."

When we sell sterling flatware, we try to describe exactly what we are selling so there will be no question. When buying, we ask a seller to do the same thing. I have received many initial inquiries stating something like this, "I have some excellent sterling silverplate pieces."


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Luncheon, Place & Dinner Size - What's the Difference?

We hear variations of this question a lot. We've talked about the differences in sizes before. In the margin on the right of the screen, click on "Forks", "Knives" and "Place Size" to see what we've already said. Since we still receive questions, we thought we would summarize again here.

Many sterling flatware patterns offer at least three different sizes of forks and knives. Some also offer different sizes of salad forks and soup spoons. The size groups are called, moving from shortest to longest:

• Luncheon
• Place
• Dinner

The dinner size traditionally has been used for more formal dinners. Dinner forks typically range between 7.5 inches and 8 inches. Dinner knives range between 9.5 and 10 inches. Luncheon pieces typically have been used for meals other than formal dinners. A luncheon knife generally is 9 inches or shorter. A luncheon fork generally is 7 inches or shorter.

Some sterling flatware manufacturers started producing the "place" size as a compromise. Silver prices began to soar and it was too expensive for many homes to own more than one length of forks and knives. So, the place pieces served for luncheon or dinner. A place fork often is around 7.5 inches long and a place knife is often about 9.25 inches long. Gorham marks its place pieces with a "P" inside a tiny diamond shape.

It can be a bit confusing because some place pieces and dinner pieces are the same length in a given pattern. For example, in Gorham's Chantilly and Buttercup patterns, the dinner fork and place fork are both 7.5 inches long. When you examine the pieces closely in these patterns, you realize that the dinner fork is a tiny bit wider and somewhat heavier than the place fork.

There is another size, "continental", that is even larger than the dinner size. You see this sometimes in Europe but not often in the United States.

Today, size has become less important. All sizes are used for all purposes by many people. The choice is really up to you.

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Do Used Silverplate Pieces Have Any Value?

I don't want to offend anyone so I am going to quote an article I found on the web at www.silverqueen.com (the underlining is mine):

Sterling silver always retains it intrinsic silver value & usually a value also as tableware. Silverplate has no intrinsic silver value. It is not worth the refining costs to try to redeem the silver. It has very little resale value as tableware. Sterling will last forever if you want to use it and take care of it. Most Silverplate will last approximately 20 years or less depending on use with the proper care.

Having watched silverplate pieces being offered and sold (or not sold) on eBay and craigslist, I concur.

NOTE: See later post titled, "New Information on Silver Plate Value", June 7, 2009.

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Are Pieces with Old Hallmarks More Valuable?

Sometimes my answers are frustrating to readers and this one is no exception because the answer is, "It depends!" Here are some questions I ask myself when I'm considering buying a piece of sterling flatware, comparing it to other pieces in the same pattern. The questions are in order of importance to me.

1. What is its condition?
2. Are there any monograms or other custom engraving?
3. What is its weight? (Some pieces have been made in different weights over the years.)
4. What is its age? (This is linked to the hallmarks question.)

To me, questions 1 and 2 are extremely important. Questions 3 and 4 are somewhat important. If the piece is in excellent condition with no custom engraving, I won't worry about answers to the last two questions very much.

There are situations where the manufacturing process for a particular pattern changed significantly at some point. I hear this from time to time regarding the purchase of an old line company by a conglomerate. I hear that the quality of some patterns deteriorated at this point. If this is the case, question 4 becomes more important.

Keep in mind that I am in the business of buying and selling sterling flatware. If I was a collector of antique pieces, question 4 might move to the top.

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Who Will Buy Sterling Silver for Scrap Value?

Before trying to answer this question, let me pose another:

What price should I expect if I sell sterling for scrap?

The reason I ask this question first is because a potential seller of scrap often thinks that he or she will get the market price of commodity silver. Let's look at an example of what that might be. The commodity price of silver as of this date is about $13.85 per Troy ounce. Therefore, a Gorham Chantilly place fork weighing 51 grams has a scrap silver value today of about $21.00. If I take that fork to a scrap buyer, should I expect to be paid $21.00 for the fork? Of course not!

The scrap buyer is in business to make a profit. My guess is that a scrap dealer might be expected to pay half the value of the silver, or less. So, maybe we could sell our Chantilly place fork for around $10.00. How about a Chantilly teaspoon? Maybe we could get $5.00 or $6.00.

Now that we have set a more realistic expectation of a selling price, we can think about a potential buyer. I've not sold much sterling for scrap but I would start with jewelry stores, businesses that sell used sterling flatware and pawn shops.

I've seen listings on eBay for scrap sterling so that might be a place to start. http://www.craigslist.org/ has lots of ads posted by buyers of flatware, jewelry, etc. Now and then we receive a piece that has had an unfortunate encounter with a garbage disposal. In such cases, we have been successful selling them on eBay, clearly marked as "scrap".

Comments with other ideas are welcome.

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How Can I Tell if It's Real Silver?

A reader named Leslie left a question attached to an earlier post. It was such a good question, we thought it deserved its own post. Here was the question:

I have been collecting many items for over 20 years. I am now getting much of it out of my house. I placed a whole box of 'silver' items in my garage sale last summer. My neighbor came by, saw it, and brought it back to me and told me not to sell them. He said that they were more valuable than I was asking for. I don't know what they are. I don't even know if they are real silver. I bought them because they were pretty. How can I tell what is silver and what is not silver? Some have marks on them, some don't and some marks have all but disappeared. Thank you.

I suppose in this context, the definition of "real" silver is "sterling" silver which is 92.5% silver content. One very common method of identification is to look for the word, "Sterling", imprinted somewhere on a piece. This is not 100% proof but it is a very good indication. If a brand name can be found, it adds additional verification. You may also see the number, "925", "92" or "92.5". This is a clue but not a guarantee. Sterling pieces can have significant value. Look for other posts in this blog to see how value might be affected by condition, custom engraving, etc.

The other common form of silver ware is "silver plate". A silver coating is placed on top of some other metal. Used pieces may look great but do not have significant resale value, generally speaking. Silver plate pieces often have the manufacturer's name and may have additional information regarding the pattern name.

If there are no marks found, try matching the pattern. There are literally thousands of patterns in use today and the task of matching may prove difficult. A dealer in used silver might be able to help.

If all else fails, try polishing the pieces with a good silver polish and see how it looks. This won't help much with proving the silver content but at least, they might look good enough to attract the attention of a potential buyer or you might want to just keep them for your own use.

We welcome photographs sent to us via email. We'll try to help identify a pattern. Click on "View My Complete Profile" in the right column. This will take you to a screen with our email link.

NOTE: Read the update to this post, "How Can I Tell If It's Real Silver? - Part 2", dated June 15, 2009.

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Uneven Spoon Tarnishing

Note: This post was created while we were on the road in Luxor, Egypt.

We rejected in error a comment from a reader so we have created a post here to repair the error.

The reader asked why his/her soup spoon bowls tarnished faster than the spoon handles.

We can only guess at the answer. Certain foods cause tarnish much faster than others. These include eggs and vinegar. We add vinegar to some Chinese soups we prepare from time to time so maybe that's what this reader was doing. We suggest prompt hand washing after use to help alleviate the problem.

We will be interested to hear comments from other readers on this subject.

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Is Sterling Flatware a Good Investment?

We received a question recently from a visitor who is thinking about "investing in a set of sterling flatware". They are considering two different popular patterns and wanted our advice regarding which would be the best investment.

If you are thinking of buying sterling flatware purely for financial investment purposes, my advice is, "Don't do it." There are many better investment opportunities. In today's tough economic times, we hear from many people trying to sell their sterling flatware and they are all disappointed in the price they are able to sell it for.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a set of flatware to own, use and cherish, buying now could be considered an "investment" because the purchase cost will probably continue to rise. If you are looking for the best "investment" in terms of saving yourself some money, consider selecting a pattern that has a large secondary, or "used", market. For example, patterns like Gorham Buttercup or Wallace Grande Baroque would be current choices that fit this mold. If you are considering a specific pattern, look at the number of pieces available on eBay and compare that with what you find for other patterns. You often will find hundreds of pieces available for popular patterns.

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What's in Sterling Besides Silver?

We've mentioned this topic briefly a couple of times in other posts but since we have had some questions lately on the topic, here's a summary.

By definition, "sterling" contains 92.5% pure silver. The other 7.5% is made up of some alloy. Why is it not 100% silver? Because the piece would be too soft to use - the alloy adds strength.

The most common alloy is copper. Other metals may be used such as platinum, zinc and germanium but copper remains most popular. Silicon and boron may be used as additives.

The reason other formulas are being tried is to reduce the effects of tarnish and other problems. It's primarily the copper that is reacting with oxygen and sulfur to cause tarnish, not the silver. You may see some advertising in this regard by some manufacturers.

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Giving Used Sterling Flatware - Redux

See our earlier post, "Is Used Sterling Flatware a Proper Gift?"

Now that the holiday buying season is almost behind us, we thought our experience this season might be interesting to you. Based upon communications with customers who purchased sterling flatware from us since September 2008, there are many people who agree with us that giving a used piece of sterling flatware in good condition is just fine. We sold everything from single teaspoons to four-piece place settings to large serving pieces.

Most were for gifts. How do we know? Because we received messages like "must receive by Christmas", "must be in top notch condition", "must be of this length because it fits the set of the person to whom I am giving this piece",...

So, re-read the original article and give!

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Sterling Identification Guide Book

A reader of this blog left a comment attached to the previous post. We felt it deserved major attention so we have repeated the reader's request below.

I am looking for a sterling identification/guide book which is heavy on commentary, such as the characteristics of particular patterns -i.e. This pattern is unusually heavy, the detail is deeply carved and so looks less machined manufactured, etc. It seems that most guide books focus solely on pattern identification. Also, it would be nice if there were a book which discussed "old" versus "new" marks for the manufacturers and the implications of such. Any thoughts on the existence of such a sterling flatware guide? Thank you. A reader.

If you have some ideas, add your comment or send us an email. We'll do some research ourselves.

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French Blade Knives

We've received several questions lately regarding French blade knives. So, it's worth adding a bit more discussion regarding this subject. First, read our very first post, "About Knives". We've copied a picture from that first article and posted it below.

The knife in the middle is the most common knife blade in use today. It's often called the "modern hollow knife" and may be available in three or more sizes for a particular pattern (e.g., "Luncheon", "Place", "Dinner", etc.).

The knife on the bottom has a French blade. It also may available in three or more sizes. This blade shape is older. French blade knives:

• Are not steak knives
• Are not necessarily sharper that other knives
• Simply have a different shape blade

Most of the time, a set of sterling flatware will include either modern hollow knives or French blade knives but not both. Some people own sets with both shapes included but it's not very common. It's a matter of preference for one shape or the other. Or, it might be that a person inherited a set with a particular blade shape and they have stuck with it.

If you are starting a brand new set, select one blade shape or the other. If you have no preference, we recommend you select the modern blade.

If you are adding to an existing set, the decision may have been made for you.

If you are buying knives as a gift for someone, investigate a bit to determine the proper blade shape and length so you will match what they have already.

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What's the Purpose of the Butter Knife Notch?

What's the purpose of the notch in some master butter knives? Click on the picture below to see a larger version in which you can see the notch on the top of the blade better.


To be frank, we have no idea! We have heard some reasons:

• It's to help keep the knife from sliding off the butter plate (how would this work?)
• It's just decorative
• It's related somehow to fish knives

We've posted this question in the hope that it will generate comments from readers to help enlighten us!

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What's a Fair Price to Pay?

We all like bargains. When we buy something at what we consider to be below market price, it makes us feel good! We're one up on the world!

So, when we go shopping for sterling silver flatware, we hunt and hunt for the best deal. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and, unless we're driving around hunting, it doesn't cost us anything. I recommend a more analytical approach. Before shopping around, I recommend developing a price at which you will feel like you have received proper value for the money you spend.


First, define what you're looking for, especially with respect to condition.

• Do you want something that is "nearly new" in terms of condition or are you willing to live with abrasions and nicks from years of use?


• Will the piece be a gift or for your personal use?


• If it's for personal use, what's the condition of the pieces you already own?

Then, you might investigate the retail price at department stores or other retail sellers. In your mind, what percentage of the retail price would constitute a reasonable price for a used piece?

After you've considered these points, start your search. For this article, we performed a test search for a very popular piece, a Gorham Chantilly place fork. We made sure the seller indicated that the fork had the "diamond-P" hallmark on the back to so we knew we were comparing apples-to-apples.

This hallmark is Gorham's indicator for "place" size. Here's what we found:

• The retail price in December 2008 appears to be $115.00. We verified this at several seller web sites on the Internet, including department stores.


• We checked the web sites of three popular, reliable sellers of used sterling flatware. We have found that they can be depended upon to sell only "excellent condition" used pieces. These are the prices we found-
  - Seller 1 (very large mail order seller) - $49.99
  - Seller 2 (large mail order seller) - $51.00
  - Seller 3 (smaller mail order seller that also has a shop in a major city) - $59.00
  The average price of these three was $53.33 or 46% of the retail price


• We checked eBay and found actual completed sales st these prices:
  - $38.95
  - $33.99
  - $32.00
  - $25.00
  The description of the cheapest fork indicated more wear so we dropped it from consideration. The average price of the remaining three forks was $34.98 or 30% of the retail price. The fork that sold for $32.00 was sold via the eBay "auction" format whereas the other two were sold via the "Buy It Now" format. The seller of the $32.00 fork had an eBay feedback rating below 100 whereas the other two sellers had very high feedback ratings.

Based upon this cursory research, a reasonable target price to set for a used piece in excellent condition would be between 30% and 50% of the retail price. Expect to pay toward the higher end to a seller with a very good reputation and an acceptable return policy. If you are willing to settle for a piece in less than excellent condition, a target of 20% to 25% of the retail price is probably appropriate.

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About Tablespoons

The tablespoon is one of the most useful serving pieces in a collection. Most patterns have at least two versions of this spoon, generally slightly longer than eight inches. The picture below illustrates the most common type, simply called "tablespoon".


The picture below illustrates a popular variation called the "pierced tablespoon". You may also see this referred to as a "slotted spoon".

Unfortunately, other pieces frequently are misidentified as tablespoons. A common example is the oval soup spoon.

We think a set should contain several tablespoons of both varieties. Special meals such as Thanksgiving dinner will require many serving pieces; tablespoons will prove to be the most versatile. If you are looking for used tablespoons on sites like eBay, here are some pointers:

• In addition to searching for "tablespoon", try also "serving spoon" and "table spoon".
• When searching for a "pierced tablespoon", try also "pierced spoon", "slotted spoon" and "slotted tablespoon".
• Check the length of an advertised piece to make sure it is identified correctly. If the length is not listed, contact the seller.

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Who Owns Gorham Company?

The Gorham Company was founded in 1831. Producing very popular popular patterns like Chantilly, Buttercup and Strasbourg, Gorham has a proud history. However, during the past 25 years, the company has seen some major changes.

• The conglomerate, Textron, acquired Gorham in 1982.
• Ownership passed to Dansk International Designs in 1989.
• In 1991, Brown-Forman (known more for distilled spirits) bought Gorham and folded the company into the Lenox division.
• Department 56 bought the Lenox division in 2006.

Occasionally, you will see negative comments regarding the degradation of quality since the purchase by Brown-Forman. We are not experts in this subject and will not attempt to verify or deny these implications. However, we invite comments from visitors to this blog who might have more information.

By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions and comments.

What About Monograms?

Monograms and other custom engraving add a personal touch to a set of sterling flatware. The most common type of monogram seems to be a single letter engraved on the top side of the handle near the tip. Sometimes, you might see three initials in a group. You may find the monogram on the bottom of the handle instead of the top.

Some custom engraving may relate to a significant event. For example, you might see a date or some word relating to the event. These are often on the bottom of the handle.

Custom engraving may add to the personal and sentimental value of a set as far as the owner of the set is concerned. The only problem arises if the set is ever put up for sale. Monograms cause the secondary market value to be reduced significantly. We don't have a hard and fast rule but we generally target one-half the value of comparable pieces without monograms.

So, if you are looking to buy pieces, you can get some great values if you don't mind the monograms. Or, better yet, if you run across pieces with monograms that normally would be yours, that's great!

Sometimes you find the name of the original retailer imprinted on the bottom side of the handle. The letters are typically so small, you need a magnifying glass to read them. We don't consider these to be monograms and they should not affect negatively the value of a piece. In fact they might increase the value because pieces like this probably are very old.

By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Suggest a Topic

This is a reminder that visitors to this blog are welcome to suggest questions or topics to review. Simply click on View My Complete Profile under the heading About Us in the right sidebar on the screen. Then, click on Email and send us your suggestion. Or, you may post a comment to this post by clicking on Comments/Questions just below this post.

Also, take note that we've added a Frequently Asked Questions section at the very bottom of the screen. If you are unsure how to proceed, look there.

Professional Polishing

We receive enough questions about this topic that it deserves its own post. The typical questions are worded, "Do you professionally polish the pieces you sell?", "Do you know someone who professionally polishes silver?", or "Will you professionally polish my silver?"

I'm not sure what the term, "professional polishing", means. I assume most people mean a process that will make a piece look as close to brand new as possible. If that's the case, we do not do this. We've alluded to the following reason in other posts regarding care and cleaning.

Over time, sterling flatware pieces that are cared for properly will develop a rich patina caused by a combination of microscopic abrasions, tarnish and rubbing during hand cleaning. In addition, intricate patterns will develop darker areas, known as "French gray", within the pattern that many owners think enhances the pattern. Both the patina and the French gray are considered positive things by most sterling flatware owners. If we "professionally polish" to make a piece look like new, the patina and French gray will be lost.

Having said that, I must state that we do polish many pieces we sell. If a piece just doesn't look right, we polish enough to restore it to the best possible condition. But we don't just polish for the sake of polishing.

So, perhaps the question should be, "Why do you want the pieces to be professionally polished?" There are probably good and valid reasons but we should always ask ourselves, "Would careful personal hand-polishing, taking care to preserve the richness of the finish, be better?"

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Salad Serving Sets - Alternative?

Many patterns now include salad serving sets that are wooden or plastic on the "business" end with sterling handles. Not everyone likes the look of these.

Salad serving pieces manufactured years ago were solid sterling in many patterns. These are still available, at least on the secondary market. We have seen used sets sell in the range of $125 to $200 (fork and spoon).

We have read proposals from industry sources that suggested using substitute pieces for salad serving - a solid tablespoon paired with a pierced tablespoon, such as the pair shown below.














We think this is a good idea. These pieces are typically just over 8 inches long and will do nicely. We welcome comments from others about this.

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Mystery Piece Number 2

Gwen, a visitor to this blog, sent in our second mystery piece. Here are her pictures, followed by a description.



Here is a summary of Gwen's description:

On the bottom, it is stamped #1062, Gorham Mfg Co., and sterling. The hallmark is very small, and even with a magnifying glass, and looking at Gorham hallmarks on the Internet, I'm unable to find a similar hallmark.

I'm pretty sure it belonged to my grandmother, who was born in 1881, and was handed down to my mother, who was born in 1918, and I received it after my mother passed away, in 2001.

I've searched all over the Internet, trying to identify the pattern, but it doesn't appear anywhere that I've looked. The design on each scalloped edge has a bow
in-between each scallop, and what appears to be (maybe) an acorn in the middle of each scallop.

Weight is 1 lb. 2.50 oz. It is 5" tall and 9 1/2" at it's widest, from the edge of one scallop, to the edge of the one across from it.

This is a tough one. I do know that Gorham has used numbers etched on the bottom of pieces to identify patterns of some pieces but that's about all I can help with. Can anyone out there help Gwen identify this pattern? Please post a comment or send us an email by clicking on View My Complete Profile in the right column.

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Oh, No! Brown Spots On My New Flatware!

If you ask me about brown spots on your new sterling flatware pieces, the first thing I will ask you is, "Did you wash them in a dishwasher?"

As we've stated earlier, sterling is 92.5% silver and 7.5% something else, often copper. If you wash your new sterling in a dishwasher, water droplets may form on the surface of your pieces. As the pieces dry, the water reacts with the copper and forms brown spots.

After repeated use and washings, the copper on the surface of the pieces gradually wears away, leaving a pure silver surface. The problem will be eliminated. Here are some ways to avoid the problem to begin with, any one of which should work.

• Wash your flatware by hand for at least the first ten times you use it.
• Use a wetting agent in your dishwasher.
• Remove the sterling pieces before the dishwasher drying cycle begins, then hand dry.

Of course, we prefer never to use a dishwasher to wash sterling flatware. See our earlier post, Washing Sterling Flatware in a Dishwasher.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Setting the Table

We thought about taking pictures or drawing diagrams to illustrate the proper way to position sterling flatware for a single place setting. But, we found several sites that provide this already - here are links to some.

• The Emily Post Institute - Table Setting Guides
• The Old Farmer's Almanac - Setting the Table
• SM Publications - How to Set a Table
• Bright Settings - May I Set Your Table?

These are just a few of the sites you will find if you do your own search with a search engine such as Google.

We thought the Bright Settings site was unusual and interesting. It provides an interactive list of 11 items such as soup, salad, dessert, coffee, wine, etc. You check the ones you plan to serve and the site will illustrate the proper setting of flatware, china and glassware, including only the pieces you need. The expanded Bright Settings site also provides hints about other function planning issues.

One further note is worth mentioning - the sites are not consistent. For example, some sites place the dessert spoon above the plate while others have it beside the plate. So, look at these sites as suggestions but do what works best for you and your guests.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

About Soup Spoons

Soup spoons are fairly straightforward in most patterns. The key points to be concerned with are:

• Bowl shape
• Length

We think the most versatile soup spoon is one that has an oval shape bowl like the one in the picture below.
Many patterns include oval bowl spoons like this in at least two different lengths. Most will be about 7 inches long plus or minus 1/4 inch. One of the lengths may be designated as a "place" soup spoon. This type spoon may also be designated as a "soup/dessert" spoon. Sometimes, you will see this spoon designated as a "tablespoon" or "serving spoon". We think these are incorrect designations.

Another bowl shape for soup spoons is round The cream soup spoon in the picture below is an example.These spoons generally have one of these designations:

• Bouillon (around 5 1/4 inches long)
• Cream soup (around 6 1/4 inches long)
• Gumbo (around 6 3/4 inches long)

Each pattern will have its own specific lengths but they will be in the ballpark of our estimates.

Sellers do not always describe these spoons accurately so make sure you understand the bowl shape and the length. If you do, you'll probably buy the right spoon.

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eBay: Restrictions on Sellers

In the fall of 2008, eBay made several changes that greatly affected the way sellers do business. We've already talked about the fact that eBay is forcing electronic payment for purchases with the goal of eliminating paper methods such as checks and money orders. Some visitors to this blog have added comments discussing their concern about this new rule.

Here are some other things eBay is doing.

1. Shipping charges - eBay is encouraging (and forcing in some cases) sellers to keep shipping costs to a minimum. Extra incentives have been added through the end of 2008 for sellers if free shipping is offered. Sellers are supposed to define exactly what shipping charges will be up front.
2. Descriptions - eBay is encouraging more complete and accurate descriptions of items.
3. Return policy - eBay is requiring sellers to define a return policy. Sellers are not forced to accept returns but they must state their policy.
4. New eBay fee structures give sellers more incentive to consider using the fixed-price ("Buy It Now") format as opposed to the auction format.
5. Detailed Seller Rating (DSR) - eBay is placing much greater weight on the DSR ratings that buyers assign to sellers through the feedback process. The four DSR categories are:
   
   - Item as described
   - Communication
   - Shipping time
   - Shipping and handling charges
   
   A buyer may assign a score between 1 and 5 (with 5 being best) in each of the four categories for each eBay transaction. This is so important to a seller that we ask buyers to let us know why if we did not earn a score of 5 in each category. We're not trying to intimidate buyers but we need to know what we did wrong so we can do better next time. eBay only gives sellers their overall average score and does not give any reasons to the sellers. 5's are very important! Multiple buyers assigning ratings below 5 can have a severe impact on a seller.
   

As a footnote to this discussion, buyers should be aware that eBay and PayPal charge fairly significant fees to sellers. Several parameters affect the ultimate fee. Taken together, eBay and PayPal fees top out at around 16% of the sales price for an item sold on eBay and paid for through PayPal. This includes fees not directly related to a sale.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Is it for Salad, Dessert, Fish, Pastry...?

Look at the picture below. What is it?

• Salad fork?
• Dessert fork?
• Fish fork?
• Pastry fork?

The reason we ask the question is because we have seen forks like this listed as all the above descriptive names by sellers in their ads!

I think most of us agree that this is a salad fork (see our earlier post, About Forks). So why is it called by the other names? We think it could be one of these reasons:

• The seller is too lazy to look it up
• The seller is trying to get a better price by calling it something more exotic
• The seller is trying to broaden the market for the item by giving it multiple uses (e.g., "This is a salad/fish/dessert fork...")

Many sterling flatware patterns include unique fish forks that may vaguely resemble a salad fork but generally are quite different. Many patterns also include pastry forks that also look different. So, to call this a fish fork or pastry fork is incorrect, we believe.

Now that brings us to dessert forks. We would like to receive comments about this because we are having trouble coming up with an example of a piece identified by the manufacturer as a "dessert fork". It is true that many people use salad forks when serving certain types of desserts. So, perhaps it is OK to use "dessert" as an alternate name for this piece. What do you think?

If you are looking for pieces with the names included in this post, make sure you have a picture and precise measurements for reference before you buy.

Let us hear from you about this.

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eBay: Using PayPal

The folks at eBay created quite a stir in October of 2008 when they dictated that buyers must pay for goods via electronic means using a credit card or a payment service like PayPal. Since PayPal is owned by eBay, a competing service, ProPay, is also allowed to process payments. eBay more or less had to allow a competitor to do this in order to avoid anti-competitive practice issues.

PayPal's preferred way of moving money around is to move it from or to someone's bank account. This is the way we operate and we have had no problems. We have heard of complaints from other sellers but do not know the details. PayPal also allows a buyer to use a credit card to pay for a purchase.

Some people do not like sharing personal credit or checking information on the Internet. Here are a couple of suggestions for eBay buyers in this category:

• A buyer might use a prepaid credit card. Such a card limits the buyer's exposure to the amount prepaid and does not affect the buyer's credit score.
• A buyer might insist on paying the old fashioned way by check or money order. We can't speak for eBay but we understand that if a buyer insists on paying by check or money order, the seller is allowed by eBay to accept it. A buyer should check with the seller about this before buying.

PayPal does have added benefits in that it offers some degree of protection for the buyer and seller. Sellers pay a fee to PayPal of roughly 3% of a transaction's total amount.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

eBay: Searching Tip

If you are buying on eBay, you might want to consider this - sellers often make mistakes in spelling, especially with regard to certain pattern names. A good example is the Wallace pattern, Grande Baroque. Many sellers forget about the "e" at the end of the word, "Grande". To work around this, you might do two searches with these search terms:

• Wallace Grand Baroque sterling


• Wallace Grande Baroque sterling
  

Or, you might take an easier, quicker approach. The following search terms will search for both spellings:

• Wallace (Grand, Grande) Baroque sterling

The eBay search engine will understand that you are looking for the "grand" OR "grande" spellings.

Savvy sellers include both spellings in their listings so that their listing will be found even if the searcher spells it "grand". In our Grande Baroque listings, the word "grand" is included in the item description but it is hidden from view. So, it will not be seen but it will be examined during eBay searches.

Other pattern names often mispelled include Rose Point, ("Rosepoint"), Strasbourg ("Strasburg"), Chantilly ("Chantily"), Buttercup ("Butter Cup") and Versailles (many!).

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Butter Handling Utensils

One would think that butter knives would be fairly standard. Well, strange as it may seem, a single pattern may offer eight or more different styles of butter handling utensils. There are several different characteristics by which to categorize them, starting with:

• Master butter knife - used to transfer butter from a common serving dish to an individual diner's bread plate. This knife typically will have a sharp point to be used to "spear" a butter pat, I suppose. It is not used to spread butter onto bread.
• Individual, or place, butter spreader - used to spread butter onto bread. Each place setting will have one of these for use by a single diner. A spreader normally will have a rounded tip.

A utensil's construction defines another way to categorize:

• Solid or flat-handle - typically means that the utensil is one solid piece, all made of sterling.
• Hollow-handle - means that the utensil is constructed more like a dinner knife, probably with a sterling handle and a stainless steel blade.

The solid butter utensils could be expected to be a little more expensive than their hollow-handle cousins because the solid pieces typically are all sterling. Their sterling blades may exhibit more abrasions than the stainless steel blades on hollow-handle pieces. The categories above are illustrated in this picture of four Gorham Chantilly utensils. The utensils (from top to bottom) are:

• Solid (flat-handle) master butter knife
• Hollow-handle master butter knife
• Solid (flat-handle) butter spreader
• Hollow-handle butter spreader

Photo courtesy www.wikipedia.com

Here's a third categorization:

• With Notch - references the little notch in the blade that you see in the two master butter knives in the above picture.
• With No Notch - means that there is no notch. Some patterns include both options. The utensils often will look exactly the same except for the notch.

And now for your reading pleasure, a fourth categorization:

• Modern blade - means that the blade resembles the blade of a modern place knife.
• Paddle blade - means that the blade has a different, more rounded shape.
• French blade - may be a variation of the paddle blade.

Below are pictorial examples. The Chantilly butter spreader on the left is a hollow-handle spreader with a modern blade. We call the Chantilly spreader on the right a hollow-handle butter spreader with a paddle blade. However, some might define the blade as a French blade because of the way the sharp edge of the blade leaves the handle (taking a 90 degree turn away from the handle, then another 90 degree turn up the blade edge).










In addition to knives and spreaders, there are butter picks. Below are pictures of two examples. The top butter pick has a single tine while the bottom butter pick has two tines.

Photos courtesy of www.replacements.com

So, the bottom line here is to be careful when buying butter utensils to make sure you are getting what you want!

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Weighing Silver

In America, our system of weights for most things identifies a pound as being equal to 16 ounces. This is known as the avoirdupois system of weights.

The weight of silver is expressed in the Troy system in which a Troy pound equals 12 Troy ounces. Prices quoted for raw silver refer to Troy ounces. To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, we generally express weight in grams. Here's a conversion chart.

• One avoirdupois ounce = 28.349523125 grams
• One Troy ounce = 31.1034768 grams

If you are calculating the weight of silver in a sterling flatware piece, remember that sterling is only 92.5% silver content. It is difficult to calculate the weight of silver in a knife and some serving pieces because part of the piece may be made of something other than sterling, such as a stainless steel blade.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Mystery Piece Number 1

We're adding a new feature to the blog with this post. We're calling this series, Mystery Piece.

This series was suggested by an email from a visitor to this blog. The purpose is to help blog visitors identify sterling silver flatware patterns and specific pieces within patterns. We'll depend upon posted comments or emails from other visitors to help with identification.

The first mystery is a Gorham Chantilly fork and was submitted by a visitor on November 11, 2008. The picture below illustrates two forks. The fork on bottom is what we normally consider a luncheon size. It is 7 inches long and is 7/8 inch wide at the base of the tines. The handle at its widest point near the tip is 7/8 inch wide.

The fork on top in the picture is the mystery. It is 6 7/8 inches long and is 15/16 inch wide at the base of the tines. The handle at the widest point near the tip is 13/16 inch wide.

So when compared to the standard luncheon fork, the mystery fork is slightly shorter and slightly narrower at the handle tip, but it is slightly wider at the base of the tines! The mystery fork has the old Gorham hallmarks and it has the original retailer die stamp, J. C. Grogan. So, it must be very old.

Does anyone out there know what the proper nomenclature for this fork is? Or, perhaps, did Gorham make luncheon forks slightly differently one hundred years ago?

If you have any ideas, you have two ways to respond.

1. You can add a comment by clicking on "Comments" below this post. After review by the blog moderator, it will be posted to the blog.
2. You can send an email to the moderator by clicking on View My Complete Profile in the column on the right. You will then see an "Email" link. The moderator will summarize your information and add a comment to the blog.

Tell us what you think! If you have your own mystery piece, send us one or more clear photographs via email and describe it. We'll post it soon afterward.

Click on any picture to see a larger version. By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Care & Polishing of Sterling Flatware

Disclaimer: We are providing below information that may be useful to you as you care for your sterling flatware. This information was gleaned from several reliable sources but we make no claim regarding its validity. We assume no responsibility for any damage caused by using the techniques and materials described herein.

We recommend that you gather information from a number of sources before embarking on your own silver maintenance program. "Sterling" silver, by definition, is 92.5 percent pure. An item stamped "sterling" must contain 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent copper. When silver is exposed to air, it develops tarnish, or a dark film. If the air has a high sulfur content, the silver will tarnish faster.

The effect of sulfur can be demonstrated easily by eating a boiled egg with a silver fork. If the fork is not washed, the sulfur in the egg will cause the fork to tarnish dramatically within a few hours. Many silver enthusiasts, including us, believe that slight tarnish adds to the patina of a silver piece (See our earlier post, When is Tarnish a Positive Thing?). If a piece has an intricate design, tarnish deep in the pattern helps define the outline and depth of the pattern.

On the other hand, too much tarnish can detract from the beauty of a piece and make it look "dirty". In addition to the natural impact of air on silver, other "enemies" abound. One to watch out for is rubber. It can etch silver so badly that professional repair may be required. (See our earlier post, Avoid Rubber!). Don't store silver anywhere near rubber. Damage can also be caused by salt, olives, salad dressing, vinegar, fruit juices and, of course, eggs. Wash your sterling items as soon as possible after these foods have been served.

There are several methods for cleaning silver. We focus primarily on sterling flatware in this article but the methods may apply to other silver pieces as well. Hand rubbing develops patina on silver which adds to its beauty. Use plastic or cotton gloves when polishing your sterling. Remember, AVOID RUBBER GLOVES.

Routine Sterling Flatware Care
Silver is easily scratched so never use harsh abrasives. Using your flatware frequently is a good way of deterring tarnish. After use, wash flatware as soon as possible. If it can't be washed quickly, at least rinse it. Don't let food stand on it.

Wash in warm sudsy water with a phosphate-free detergent. Rinse well and dry immediately. Do not let hollow handled pieces such as knives stand in water. The combination of heat, water, and detergent may loosen soldering. (See our earlier post, Washing Sterling Flatware in a Dishwasher).

Polishing Sterling Flatware
We use two types of commercial products to condition sterling flatware. We are not endorsing the products mentioned; they simply happen to be the ones we have used recently.

Light Duty Conditioning: For sterling flatware that has been well-maintained but has light tarnish or very light abrasions, we use a product like "Mish's Silver Polish". Light rubbing with a product like this reconditions the flatware easily. We use this process for our personal flatware.

Heavier Duty Conditioning: For pieces that have heavy tarnish, more abrasions and perhaps some minor blemishes, we use a product like "Wenol Metal Polish". Heavier rubbing may be required to remove the blemishes but they disappear most of the time (See our earlier post, Cleaning: Chemical Dips).

Storage
Store flatware in a chest lined with tarnish-resistant flannel. If you don't have a chest, you can use an air-tight plastic bag. Handle flatware with care to avoid nicks and heavy scratches; knife blades and other metals can do damage if they come in contact with sterling flatware.

Keep humidity levels low in your storage area by adding desiccated silica gel to your storage drawer or cabinet. To keep your storage area free of gases known to cause tarnish, add a few capsules or small dish of activated charcoal.

Pre-treat each piece with a tarnish-retardant polish when storing for long periods of time. Specially treated cloth bags or anti-tarnish strips work well, too. When a cloth bag is not an option, you can provide further protection to silver and silver plated items by wrapping your prized pieces separately in plastic cling wrap.

Add a single piece of white chalk to the drawer or cabinet where your silver is stored; white chalk prevents tarnish.


Use your sterling flatware frequently and care for it properly and regularly. It will please your family for generations.

Other Information Sources Regarding Care of Silver
Society of American Silversmiths

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Shipping Charges

This has nothing directly to do with sterling silver but we get so many questions about the subject, perhaps it's worth a post. We ship almost everything we sell, so shipping is a very important subject to us as well. Following are the most frequent questions we receive and our responses.

Will you combine multiple purchases into a single shipment to reduce shipping cost?
Yes. We do this automatically unless directed otherwise. In fact, we recommend that you plan your purchases ahead of time to take advantage of this. Most sellers offer this form of reduced shipping cost.

Are you making a profit on shipping?
We do not try to make a profit on shipping. Because we generally quote a flat rate for shipping charges, we probably do not hit the shipping charge exactly. However, any gain or loss will be very small - less than 50 cents.

What's included in shipping charges?
We can only speak for ourselves, not for other sellers. Here's what we include:
- Estimated cost for USPS First Class or Priority Mail (if greater than 13 ounces)
- Estimated cost for USPS shipping insurance
- Estimated cost for a strong shipping container (25 to 50 cents usually)

Will you ship via a cheaper method to reduce cost?
The only cheaper method we know of is Parcel Post. The savings are so small, it's not worth it.

Will you allow local pickup?
We will but with the price of gas these days, it may be more cost efficient to pay for shipping.



We've noticed that some sellers seem to charge more than actual shipping costs. We won't criticize them but we will offer some comments regarding reasons for doing this:

• Some sellers consider "handling" to be a cost to be passed on to the buyer. It does take time to pack items, drive to the Post Office, etc. However, we consider it just part of the cost of doing business and do not try to pass it on.


• eBay does not charge a commission or fee on shipping charges like they do on the cost of the item being sold. Therefore, a seller might charge lower selling prices and higher shipping charges to avoid eBay fees. Of course, eBay frowns on this practice! FYI, PayPal charges the seller a commission on everything.


• The seller may just want to make a little extra profit. That should not be a problem for you as long as you factor in shipping costs before buying the item, making sure the total cost is reasonable for you.

Now, we'll turn to a few pet peeves we have with some sellers:

• Some sellers force the use of Priority Mail even when less expensive First Class would suffice. The reason could be that the Post Office provides free Priority Mail boxes and the seller is too cheap to buy other boxes.


• Some sellers charge the Priority Mail Flat Rate box rate when standard Priority Mail would be cheaper. For example, a parcel weighing one pound costs $4.80 to ship by Priority Mail. The Priority Mail Flat Rate Box costs $9.80. The seller is either lazy or is planning to make a profit on this somehow.


• A seller may have several concurrent items up for auction on eBay, each with unusually high shipping charges. I might like to bid on several and hope to win a few that can be combined for shipping. However, I can't depend upon winning multiple items so I have to bid less for each item so I won't get stuck with exorbitant shipping for just one item.


• Some sellers force the use of UPS or FedEx when USPS might be cheaper.

If you want to know exactly what USPS charges are, visit http://www.usps.com/. The total amount will be influenced by:

• Weight


• Amount of insurance


• First Class vs. Priority Mail


• Distance (for Priority Mail over one pound)

You might ask, "What's a typical actual shipping cost?" Based on our experience, two or three dinner forks shipped together with total value of $100 will often cost between $4.00 and $5.00. Knives generally are a little higher because they are heavier. Once the parcel exceeds 13 ounces, First Class is no longer an option and Priority Mail will cause the cost to jump.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

eBay: Negotiating Price

Is it possible to negotiate price with eBay sellers? The answer generally is, "No", but it depends upon the seller.

Auction Items
For eBay auction items that sell, negotiating doesn't make sense because the auction process itself is the price negotiation. However, sometimes auction items don't sell because they receive no bids or the bids don't reach the seller's reserve price.

In situations like this, we have on occasion sent a message to the seller after the auction closed stating that we were interested in the item but not at the minimum bid or reserve established by the seller. An interested seller could re-list the item on eBay with lower price considerations in such a case. We have run across interested sellers and some have re-listed. However, we never have been successful with convincing a seller to re-list at a minimum bid or reserve price suitable to us.

Fixed-Price Items with "Make an Offer" Option
Fixed-price items are identified with a "Buy it Now" price. For items like this, the seller has the option of including a "Make an Offer" button in the listing. Most fixed-price items do not include this button but if the seller has activated it, a potential buyer is being invited to negotiate. The seller is more or less expecting to sell the item at a price less than what's posted.

When you click on "Make an Offer", eBay will ask that you confirm your offer price. Be aware that once you confirm, you are obligated to buy if the seller accepts your offer. If multiple pieces are offered in a single eBay listing, eBay will also ask you to state the number of pieces covered by your offer.

When you make an offer, eBay sends the seller a message with the details of your offer. The seller may:

• Accept your offer, thereby obligating you to buy


• Reject your offer outright


• Reject your offer but propose a counteroffer

This back and forth process can go on for a maximum of three offers by a potential buyer for a given eBay item.We don't have a particular "rule of thumb" regarding how much your offer should be as a percentage of asking price. Offer what you think is a fair price. Some sellers get upset when someone submits a "low ball" offer. We don't get upset because we know the bidder only has three chances. However, you should keep in mind that a seller is looking for the best offer. An offer is allowed by eBay to be valid for 48 hours so a seller may accumulate more than one offer, then select the best one.

Fixed-Price Items without "Make an Offer" Option
Most fixed-price listings fall within this category. Generally speaking, the seller probably is not willing to negotiate. However, if you want to try, the only way to initiate the process is to send the seller a question. State your proposal and see how the seller responds. Some sellers seem to be bothered by this process. We are not bothered because we always look for opportunities to communicate with potential customers. We see it as an opportunity to convince you why our original price is reasonable!

If a seller agrees with your proposal, the eBay listing probably will need to be modified or a new one created. That's something to be worked out between the you and the seller. Keep in mind that an eBay listing is open to any qualified buyer, so if the seller creates a modified listing with a lower price, anyone can snap it up. Move quickly to buy once a modified listing is created for you.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Who Owns Wallace Silversmiths?

Wallace Silversmiths has been a manufacturer of sterling flatware since the first half of the nineteenth century. Producing popular intricate patterns like Grande Baroque and Rose Point, Wallace has a proud history.

However, during the past 50 years, the company has had some topsy-turvy times.

• Hamilton Watch Company acquired Wallace Silversmiths in 1959


• Katy Industries acquired Wallace Silversmiths in 1983


• Syratech Corporation, which also owned Towle Silversmiths, acquired Wallace Silversmiths in 1986


• After declaring bankruptcy in 2005, Syratech was acquired by Lifetime Brands in 2006

Occasionally, you will see negative comments regarding Wallace items produced since Syratech bought the company. They seem to imply the quality and/or weight of pieces produced under Syratech ownership is less than for earlier produced pieces. We are not experts in this subject and will not attempt to verify or deny these implications. However, we invite comments from visitors to this blog who might have more information.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Buying & Selling Sterling Flatware on Craigslist

Craigslist offers another channel for the buying and selling of sterling silver items. For readers who don't know what Craigslist is, here is the Wikipedia definition:

Craigslist is a central network of online communities, featuring free online classified advertisements– with jobs, internships, housing, personals, erotic services, for sale/barter/wanted, services, community, gigs, resume, and pets categories – and forums on various topics.

In other words, it's similar to newspaper classifieds except it is online. We have purchased sterling flatware through "for sale" ads we found on Craigslist and sellers have come to us through "wanted to buy" ads we placed ourselves. Here some nice features of Craigslist:

• It's free
• It's simple
• It provides a level of security; e.g., you can place a "blind" ad
• Photographs can be included with your ad
• It provides a search capability so you can locate what you are looking for fairly easily
• If you know how to use HTML, you can dress up your ad a bit

From our point of view, it does have some limitations:

• An ad is linked to a single city, thereby limiting coverage
• Scammers roam Craigslist looking for opportunities to defraud
• There is no feedback or history mechanism such as eBay provides - you have no way to gauge the trustworthiness of the other party

We think Craigslist provides a worthy opportunity to buy or sell. You just have to be careful.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Gorham Hallmarks

After our previous post, we received some emails requesting more information about Gorham hallmarks. We're not experts but we can show some examples.

As we mentioned in the last post, Gorham changed the information it places on pieces. Before 1950, Gorham used symbols to identify forks, spoons and other pieces. The picture below illustrates the three symbols: a lion, an anchor and the letter "G" plus the word, "Sterling". In this example, you also see some patent information on the right. Gorham made minor changes to this format over the years but the basic lion/anchor/G/Sterling combination should always be there. The patent information may not always be there. You may see some sellers use the abbreviation, "LAG", to represent this hallmark pattern.



After 1950, Gorham began to use the words, "Gorham Sterling", for its basic hallmark as illustrated in the picture below. Sometimes, you'll also see the pattern name on teaspoons.

Are pieces with the old marks more valuable? It depends. With all other things being equal, the older pieces probably are a little more valuable. But value is influenced to a much greater degree by the condition of a piece. A newer piece in excellent condition is preferred by many buyers to an older piece with extensive signs of wear.

There are several earlier posts on this blog that discuss markings of various kinds. You should read them in order to have a more complete picture of markings you may find.

Click on any picture to see a larger version. By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

What Do "OM" and "NM" Mean?

Often in an eBay listing title, you will see the terms "OM" or "NM" in a listing title. This is what they mean:

• NM means "no monograms" are found on the piece(s).
• OM means "old marks". You often see this when an old Gorham piece is being offered. Gorham changed the information it placed on the backs of forks, spoons, etc. in 1950. If a seller places OM in the title, it probably means the Gorham piece(s) being offered were manufactured before 1950 and have the old Gorham hallmarks.

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

eBay: Auction vs. Fixed-Price Format

If you've been searching for items on eBay, you probably realize that eBay has three basic forms for selling:

• Auction - This format is the one most people are thinking about when they first use eBay. Auctions run for a maximum of 10 days. The winning bidder is obligated to buy.
• Fixed-Price - More and more sellers are using the fixed-price format whereby the seller sets a fixed price for the item to be sold.
• Store - To a buyer, store format looks exactly like fixed-price format. To the seller, there are some differences in the fees charged by eBay. The primary thing affecting a buyer is the way eBay searches for items. Unless you specify otherwise, you may not see "store" items in your search results. On the "Advanced Search" page there is an option to include store inventory in your searches. Fixed-price and store listings run for a maximum of 30 days, although many sellers renew the listings for one or more additional 30-day periods.

Auctions offer the opportunity for bargain prices for some items. However, a bidder must wait until the auction ends to see who is successful. If you have been bidding on items lately, you may have noticed that several bidders may bid in the last five seconds or so. This technique, called "slamming", has become more prevalent lately. If you have lost an item in such a situation, you may have thought that there were several bidders lurking out there, all hitting the "Enter" key to submit their bids simultaneously. However, it is likely that some or all of these last second bidders used one of several services available on the Internet that submit last second bids automatically on behalf of such bidders. Check out http://www.bidslammer.com/ for example.

Fixed-price and store items offer the benefit of selecting an item immediately with no waiting. You know what you are going to pay up front and you can "Buy it Now".

Which way is best? It all depends upon your time frame, your patience, your need to find just the right item, your price flexibility, etc. You be the judge.

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Buying Sterling Flatware on eBay

Disclosure: The reader should take notice that this post contains opinions of the owners of Georgia Silver, a firm that sells many items on eBay. Although every effort has been made to present a fair assessment of the subject, the bias of the authors could affect the discussion.

The creation of eBay opened a single new market in which the forces of supply and demand operate on a worldwide basis. With respect to used sterling flatware, eBay comes closest to setting a true worldwide market price. However, when looking to buy a piece of sterling flatware on eBay, you have to be certain that you are comparing "apples to apples" among the various offered items. For example, the value of a Chantilly teaspoon offered by one seller could be quite different from the value of a Chantilly teaspoon offered by another seller. Here are some points to consider when buying.

• Condition of the piece - This is probably the most important factor affecting value. A teaspoon offered by one seller might still be in its original wrapper while a teaspoon offered by another seller might have had an unfortunate encounter with a garbage disposal. The description offered by the seller is very important. Clear pictures of the piece(s) being offered should be included in the listing.
  
  Each seller will have a unique way of describing pieces. There are no exact definitions - one seller might use the word "excellent" only to define something that appears to be brand new while another seller might use the same term to describe a piece that has a few small abrasions and dents from light use.
  
  If the condition is not clear to you, ask the seller questions.
  
  
• Monograms or other custom engraving - Many sellers will state in the listing whether or not there are monograms on a piece. If not, ask the seller about this specifically.
  
  
• Size - Pieces come in different lengths and weights. Read the earlier posts on this blog, "About Forks" and "About Knives". Make sure you are buying the exact size and shape you need. Length measurements to the nearest 1/8 inch are best. A dinner fork generally has a much higher value than a luncheon fork, for example. If the seller did not provide sufficient details, ask questions. Don't rely on names like "luncheon" and "dinner". These mean different things to different people. Insist on specific measurements.
  
  
• Color - Most sterling flatware is silver in color but a few patterns have optional gold "tinting".
  
  
• Shipping - Most sellers add reasonable shipping charges. Some offer free shipping. Some will include a nominal charge for the shipping container or "handling". However, a few try to make significant extra profit with unreasonably high shipping charges. Make sure you understand what the shipping charges will be and factor these into your overall price consideration. Go to http://www.usps.com/ to calculate your own sample shipping charges and compare these with the seller's. Be sure to understand the seller's approach to shipping insurance and factor this into your analysis. If shipping charges are unclear, ask the seller a question.
  
  
• Seller's feedback rating - the feedback rating is very important. You can generally feel more comfortable with a seller who has a large positive number (in the hundreds or thousands) AND whose percentage of positive feedback is 100% or very close to that. Read feedback comments posted by earlier buyers. Every seller has to start somewhere so you may encounter a new legitimate seller with a very low feedback number. In this case, study all details even more carefully.

Keep in mind that an eBay seller has to pay fees to eBay and PayPal. These could total over 15% of the sales price.

This post is a little long so we'll stop here but we'll be adding at least these other posts related to eBay:

• Auction vs. Fixed-Price Format
• Negotiating price
• Using PayPal
• eBay restrictions on sellers

By clicking on "Comments" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions/comments.

Washing Sterling Flatware in a Dishwasher

Is it safe to wash sterling flatware in the dishwasher? You will find many articles that state it is safe. But, you also see these caveats:

• Rinse food from the flatware immediately after use and before placing in the dishwasher
• Never let stainless steel and sterling touch each other - washing separately is preferred
• Avoid lemon-scented detergents and detergents with chlorides - use a mild detergent
• Never sprinkle detergent directly on the flatware - pitting could result
• Use a water softening agent if you have hard water
• Remove the flatware before the drying cycle - dry by hand with soft cloth

Having said all this, our preference is NOT washing sterling flatware in a dishwasher. Washing by hand with a mild soap immediately after use is our preferred method. See the post below about avoiding rubber gloves.

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Gorham Hallmark - "P" Inside Diamond Shape

Some people have asked about the mark they see on the backs of some Gorham pieces or on the blades of Gorham knives. The mark is the letter, "P", inside a diamond shape. See the picture below for an example.

This symbol defines the piece as being "Place" size. The place size is generally between the luncheon size and the dinner size pieces in terms of length and/or weight. See the posts below, "About Forks" and "About Knives".

In our opinion, the place size has become an acceptable compromise size. Few of us can afford complete sets that include luncheon pieces and dinner pieces. So, many people have just the place size to serve both purposes.

We would like to hear other opinions about this. Click on "Comments" below to add your thoughts or ask questions.

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How Do I Sell My Sterling Flatware?

First of all, we're going to try to convince you not to sell it. Here's why:

1. Sterling flatware should be considered a family heirloom to be passed from generation to generation. In today's fast-paced world, we have lost our connections to our family histories. Using inherited sterling flatware on a special occasion will remind us of grandma and how she used to fuss over her flatware. That will trigger further wonderful memories of cherished times past. Your grandchildren deserve the same opportunity.
2. You will not receive what you think it is worth. For proof of this, contact one or two of the largest providers of replacement sterling flatware and ask for a quote to purchase your sterling. We have seen such quotes and prices frequently are 10 to 20 per cent of the retail price. For example, we recently saw a quote for Gorham Chantilly from a large replacement dealer. They were willing to pay $6.00 for a luncheon knife in excellent condition!

Now, if you still want to sell, how do you do it?

1. You probably will receive the best price by selling to another individual who will want your flatware for personal use. Start with free advertising options such as http://www.craigslist.com/. Include some nice, closeup pictures of sample pieces you have for sale. Be realistic with your asking price. Trying to get anywhere near retail price is very unrealistic, even if your pieces are unused and still in their original wrappers.
2. Consider eBay. Be aware that you will have to pay eBay a fee. Also, in October, 2008, eBay changed their rules so that electronic payment such as through PayPal is the only way a seller can receive payment. And, if you don't regularly sell through eBay, you will not have a high feedback score. Buyers are willing to pay more to sellers with high positive scores. Finally, if you use the eBay auction format, you run the risk of receiving a low bid price.
3. Sell to a dealer who specializes in sterling flatware. You can search the web for such businesses. You can also look for sellers who sell at lot of sterling on eBay. In larger cities, there may be stores who buy sterling flatware. Get quotes from two or three such dealers. Our business, Georgia Silver, is in this category.

Here are issues that will affect the price you receive.

• Condition - Used pieces are expected to have minor scratches and tiny "dings" from use. Anything worse than this will cause the value to fall significantly.
• Pattern - Some patterns have higher values than others.
• Specific piece - A fork is worth more than a teaspoon. A dinner fork is worth more than a luncheon fork. Knives often have low values.
• Set vs. individual pieces - Often a complete set with some serving pieces will bring the highest price on a per piece basis.
• Rarity - Some patterns, and some pieces within a particular pattern, may be rare. The price could be higher. On the other hand, the pattern may be rare because no one liked it!
• Monograms or other custom engraving - These will reduce the market value by a substantial amount.

Notice that the current price of raw silver is not on the list. See our earlier post regarding this subject.

One word of warning is appropriate here. If you advertise to sell, you may receive responses from unscrupulous people. Be wary of unusual payment methods and shipping to remote locations unless you can verify the identity of, and trust, the buyer. Bank certified checks can be forged and Western Union payment is a red flag.

Obviously, we may be accused on being biased on this subject since we buy and sell sterling flatware. So, look for advice from other sources to confirm what we have said.

If you have a question or comment, feel free to add a comment to this post or email us. If you click on "View my complete profile" in the sidebar on the right of the screen, you will see an "email" link.

One footnote is appropriate. When we buy sterling, we prefer that the seller NOT attempt to polish it. We prefer to polish it ourselves using our approved methods. See our earlier post regarding tarnish.

See also our post, "Finding Buyers for Your Sterling Flatware".

By clicking on "Comments/Questions" below, you can see posted comments and add your own questions and comments. Or, you can send us an email by clicking on "View My Complete Profile" in the right column.

Gorham Weight Marks

We receive many questions regarding the die stamped marks found on the backs of some Gorham pieces. We asked Gorham Customer Service about this. Their reply was, "Up until the 1980's, Gorham sterling was available in different weights:

• H - Heavy
• E - Extra Heavy
• M - Massive
• R - Regular
• T - Trade"

Below are pictures of examples - you may want to click on a picture to see a larger version. As you can see, the weight mark may appear in different places.

The first picture also illustrates an example of a retailer stamping the business name on the back. This was common earlier in the last century. In our opinion, these retailer marks do not devalue a piece. In fact, they may add value because they provide an additional indication of the age of the piece. In this example, the piece evidently was sold originally by J. C. Grogan & Co., founded in 1892 in Pittsburgh.

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Avoid Rubber!

From time to time, we come across sterling flatware with rubber bands holding a group of pieces together.

DON'T DO THIS!

Rubber can harm silver. Keep rubber away from yours. Don't even use rubber gloves when cleaning your silver.

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Cleaning: Chemical Dips

We will post tips regarding cleaning from time to time. This is the first.

There is a type of silver cleaner available that removes tarnish by simply dipping the piece into the liquid cleaner. There are also recipes available for creating your own dip using household utensils and ingredients.

In general, we do not favor these methods. If you have worked over the years to develop a rich patina to your silver and perhaps French gray in the pattern details, the chemical process will undo your hard work. We recommend instead regular hand polishing.

The ONLY time we ever use a chemical dip is when we run across a badly tarnished fork. We may use the dip to help clean the tines since it's difficult to polish between the tines by hand.

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About Forks

This is a companion post to our very first post on October 18, 2008, "About Knives". I invite you to read that post before reading this one.

Just as with knives, many sterling flatware patterns include at least three different sizes of "primary" forks. Below is an example of forks in the Buttercup pattern by Gorham, starting at the top:

• Dinner ............ 7 1/2 inches long
• Place ............... 7 1/2 inches long
• Luncheon ....... 7 inches long

You are probably asking yourself, "So, what's the difference between place and dinner forks in this pattern? They are the same length." In the case of Buttercup, there is a difference between the length ratio of handle-to-tines. The dinner fork has longer tines and a shorter handle. Also, the dinner fork is slightly wider at the base of the tines. The result is a more "hefty" feel for the dinner fork.

It should be noted that every pattern is different with respect to this type of fork. Some have three different lengths, some have two, etc. If you are buying a fork, you should verify these size parameters with the seller to make sure the fork matches your need:

• Overall length
• Length of tines and handle
• Width at the base of the tines

Don't judge the size by name alone. Buyers and sellers often are confused about nomenclature.

Salad forks also may come in different sizes. The picture below illustrates salad forks from the Buttercup pattern by Gorham, from top to bottom:

• Place salad fork ..... 6 3/4 inches long
• Salad fork ............... 6 3/8 inches long

Not every pattern has multiple lengths of salad forks but you should verify the size anyway before buying.

You may sometimes see a salad fork identified as a dessert fork or fish fork. Again, always verify size and look at a picture before buying.

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When is Tarnish a Positive Thing?

We are asked occasionally if we "professionally polish" pieces of sterling flatware that we sell. Our standard answer is, "No."

Before proceeding, let's define what tarnish is. Sterling silver, by definition, is 92.5% pure silver. This silver reacts with gases in the atmosphere to form corrosion known as tarnish. Sulfur dioxide is particularly corrosive. You can demonstrate this by placing a piece of sterling into a plastic bag with a chopped boiled egg. The sterling does not have to touch the egg but the gas given off by the egg will tarnish the piece within a few hours. So, tarnish is bad, right? Well, yes and no!

Of course, no one wants sterling pieces to be black with tarnish. Sterling is supposed to be silver in color! However, the tarnishing process coupled with hand polishing causes pieces to develop a rich patina over the years. And many argue, myself included, that intricate pattern designs like Gorham Buttercup and Wallace Grande Baroque are enhanced by light tarnish. In fact, there is a term, French gray, that implies that this is a desired thing.

So, back to the original question regarding "professional polishing". This process will remove much, maybe all, of the patina and French gray. Therefore, we only polish as much as we think necessary to have a nice-looking piece.

Below are two pictures. The first is of a Gorham Buttercup fork that has very little tarnish. The second is of a Gorham Buttercup teaspoon with some tarnish. Note how the tarnish brings out the details of the design. I'm not saying which is best because it's a matter of personal taste.


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Is Used Sterling Flatware a Proper Gift?

I hope comments will be added to this post. I'll give my opinion but I'm sure there are those who will have different opinions.

My opinion is that it is OK for used sterling silver flatware to be a gift. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must say that I buy and sell used sterling flatware so I could be biased! Here are a few "talking points":

1. Sterling pieces given as a gift should "blend" well with the recipient's existing set of flatware. If the set is new, gifts should be in at least "nearly new" condition. If the set is old, "gently used" pieces are OK.
2. If the recipient is a stickler for specific hallmarks on the pieces, used pieces may be the only choice.
3. If the giver is on a budget, he or she may be able to give two or more used pieces for the price of a single brand new piece.
4. Recycling is a big deal these days. Manufacturing new pieces consumes precious energy.
5. Make the recipient a collaborator - tell him or her where great pieces can be bought at great prices.

Before I got into this business, my mother-in-law purchased a used piece of sterling flatware for my wife and one for me every Christmas. It became somewhat of a tradition, much better than adding a new tree ornament each year. She lived to be 94 so we accumulated quite a set! All the pieces fit nicely into what we already had and the set looked as if it had been purchased at one time. This collaboration worked fine for us.

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bride, bridal, registry

Price: Commodity Silver vs. Sterling Flatware

Here's a question we hear from time to time, "How much is the price of sterling flatware affected by the commodity silver market?"

Obviously, commodity silver prices have a long run impact on sterling silver flatware retail prices since commodity silver is the primary raw material for sterling flatware. On the other hand, when considering the secondary market for used sterling flatware, short term fluctuations in the commodity silver price may not impact the prices that much. Consider the chart below from SilverSeek.com that depicts the price of raw silver for twelve months:
Raw silver dropped in price by over 50% during the period from the March 2008 to October 2008. I know for a fact that the market price of a Buttercup teaspoon or a Chantilly fork did not fall by 50% during the same time period. In my opinion, the price for these pieces stayed roughly the same.

So, if you are thinking of buying, or selling, some sterling flatware pieces, my suggestion is not to worry too much about the current price of raw silver. Other economic conditions may have a greater impact.

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About Knives

We receive questions about knives more than any other topic. So here are some points to help reduce the confusion.

Blade Shape
You see in the picture below the three common blade shapes in use today. The knives shown are in the Buttercup pattern by Gorham. The knife on top has a "blunt" blade. Blades with this shape are not manufactured much any more, if at all. The middle knife is often called "modern hollow knife". It's probably the most popular blade shape being manufactured now. The bottom knife has a "French" blade. All three shapes come in different lengths (discussed below). There is an older French blade shape not shown here that has a slightly wider blade and a more rounded point.

Knife Length
The next picture illustrates different knife lengths. Many sterling flatware patterns offer three different lengths of knife. The Chantilly by Gorham modern hollow knives in this picture are, from top to bottom:

Luncheon..... 8 7/8 inches long

Place............. 9 1/4 inches long

Dinner.......... 9 1/2 inches long

Note the differences in the relationship between handle length and blade length. There is also a noticeable difference in the weight of the knives.

In the case of the Chantilly pattern, French blade knives are also offered in luncheon, place and dinner lengths but they are slightly different from the modern hollow knife lengths. There is another length category you will not see often - "continental". It's larger than dinner length.

Here are a few points regarding knives today...

1. Specific use is not as important as it once was; i.e., luncheon knives are used for dinner and vice-versa. Very few people can afford three complete sets of knives so the place size has become a popular compromise.
2. The names of the sizes are not used precisely; i.e., some people call place knives dinner knives, some people call dinner knives place knives, etc. Some people think French blade knives are luncheon knives. So, we tend to pay attention to actual measurements of the knives and the shape of the blade in pictures rather than trying to define them by name.
3. Most sterling silver knives currently in manufacture only have sterling handles. Most blades are stainless steel.
4. Most knives offered for sale on sites like eBay are luncheon or place lengths. If you don't understand the length exactly for a piece you are considering buying, ask the seller for length specifications. Assuming equal condition, the longer the knife, the higher the price.

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