"ted frater" wrote in message
news
nabokovsmuse wrote:
I'm helping my daughter look for a service for 12 in sterling silver
flatware. I've found a service for 12 on eBay, and the auction title
indicates that the flatware is silverplate. In the description, the
seller
states that he feels the flatware is silverplate; the hallmarks he
describes
are "I" and "S" (without the quotation marks); the maker is Wm. Rogers,
but
the seller does not know the name of the pattern. The seller also
mentions
that the service could be sterling silver, but he tends to think it is
silverplate. I'll appreciate any advice and suggestions.


Thanks,
Betty Vereen Hill


Hi Betty,
Ive handled quite a lot of sterling flatware , and suggest you try to
find a service locally to where you live. the reason for this theres no
substitute for hold it in the hand so to speak, and examining it all.
My guess is thats its plate on nickel brass.
you can easily tell as this plated metal has a springyness to it that
sterling has not.
even so plate is quite acceptable if in good condition and not of
recent manufacture,

Theres a very big difference in the cost between solid sterling and
silver plate.
If it was solid sterling silver youd be looking at thousands of
dollars, for a 1930's set, whereas plate will be in the hundreds.
Spending that amount of money warrants a lotof research and looking.
well worth it.

buying something on line from someone who's not sure what it is is risky
to say the least.
you have to pay for it up front before you see it.
I wouldnt dream of doing a purchase that way.
Ive tried to find the acution you mention without success,
can you give us a link? so we can have a look? too?
ted frater.




I'd be happy to provide the link, Ted, but the auction ended last night at
$81.00. Out of curiosity, I reviewed all the auctions in which the buyer
has been the winning bidder for the past several months, and he/she has been
buying silverplate almost exclusively. That leads me to presume that he/she
must have known what they were buying or must have made inquiries to the
seller to get a better fix on the sterling/silverplate question.

I'm still in the hunt for a service for 12, and my daughter has begun to
lean ever so slightly to the idea of purchasing silverplate. She is
concerned that silverplate will eventually lose its plating to an extent. I
don't know enough about the properties of silverplate to advise her in a
knowledgeable manner.

Thanks so much for your advice - I'm going to pass it on to my daughter, who
will be very grateful for your help.

Betty