Yeah its hard to tell, i can't see any hallmarks because of all the muck. It does look quiet old, and was deeper then all the junk and the moderns i found, at least twice the depth.
What might be the best way to clean it up, without too much damage?
its been a while since I've posted up some finds, its actually been a while since I've been out for a decent detect. Been out a few times this last week trying out new areas with not too much luck, the ground is pretty dry up here at the moment and fairly hard too which makes chasin those pre decs a lot of work with nothing to show as yet, they are predicting a bit of rain over the long weekend which might soften the ground up a little, lets hope anyway
I bought myself the digitech pin pointer from jaycar today so was keen to give the girl a go, worked a treat cut my recovery time down by about half i rekon, not the best pin pointer on the market but for what you pay for it its well worth it in my opinion, beats my previous pin pointer that's for sure (never owned one)
Nice little tool to add to the arsenal.
Well here is this arvo's results nothin to brag about but good to get back in the "swing" of things
The bottle top on the left was found on the end of my stubby when i got home
Well went for another hunt this arvo, went to one of my ol' faithfuls that has been kind to me in the past with pre decs and some nice relics. No pre decs today (bugger ) but did un earth an old silver? Maybe? Spoon another nice relic
Did a little searching on the inter web to try and work out the hallmarks, still not too sure who made it what its made of and when it was made (im thinking late 1800's by the design from what ive seen on google images) is anyone on here familiar with these markings?
I know M3, it's a big job for a little spoon, I usually just look at em and love em for that moment in time, then move on. :lol: But, I guess you would be looking to see if a hallmark that means solid silver is present (if they have one like that), but on zooming in on your last photo, I think it looks like a few little holes in the plating showing a copper base.
You're right there silver, you do (well i do) get kinda caught up in the moment thinkin it might of been a spoon that the queen or the king may of used one day :lol: but as ya said admire it in the moment and throw it in the finds bucket
I might still humour my curiosity for a little bit to try and work out the markings cheers for the link.
Edit: Yeah looking at that i think it may have just been silver plated thanks for the insight.
Just had a quick look at Silvers link and from what I can gather your spoon doesn't have one of the silver standard marks in the top photo which means it is silver plated or from another country other than Britain.The first mark from the left looks like the mark in the bottom photo which would make it from 1788.Can't make out the 2nd mark on the spoon.The 3rd mark,if it is a crown it means the spoon was made in Sheffield.Can't find anything on the 4th mark on your spoon.
Thanks eldorado, yeah its a tough one I've been looking on the link silver put up and on other websites but can't find anything to define it. From what I've read their were no standards for hallmarks on silver plated as their was for sterling silver, it wasn't until 1896 that they put a ban on makers using a crown mark on non silver items to help confusion when purchasing so its at least earlier then 1896, i would find it hard to believe that it would be from 1788 just due to the age of the area not saying its not coz it could well be and that would be pretty cool but i would say it is more likely late 1800's
The first mark looks like a "W" the second looks like a "h" the 3rd resambles the crown and the 4th is an 8 pointed star which i can find nothing on. Its a mystery spoon all we do know is that its old.