Antique American Silver Identification: A Practical Guide

American silver is identified differently from British silver, and most people arrive at it with British habits. There is no assay office, no town mark and no date letter. Everything comes from the maker's mark and the standard mark.

1. Settle solid versus plate first

STERLING or 925 means 92.5% silver. COIN or the absence of any standard mark on early work usually means roughly 900 fine. EPNS, EPBM, EP, A1 and QUADRUPLE PLATE all mean plated.

2. Read the maker's mark

Expect a surname, initials, or a company device. Retailers often marked pieces they did not make, so the mark may name the shop rather than the workshop.

3. Date from the maker, not the mark

Without a date letter, the date comes from the maker's recorded working years. Gorham is the significant exception, using a symbol system that gives a year directly.

4. Watch the regional traditions

New England and Baltimore coin silver, New York and Newark manufacturing, Providence and Attleboro jewellery, and the Southwest smiths, each mark differently.

Examples from the American section of the library

Maker	Town	Active
ABEL MOULTON	Newburyport	ca 1800–1830
ABEL BUELL		ca 1760–1822
ABEL BROS & Co.	New York	ca 1904–1920
A.W. ROBINSON	New York	ca 1860–1870
A.R. KATZ & LEUDAN Co.	New York	ca 1899–1912
A.R. JUSTICE Co. [RIVERTON SILVER Co.]		ca 1881–1930
A.R. JUSTICE Co	Philadelphia	ca 1881–1930
A.P. CRAFT Co.	Indianapolis	ca 1902–1928
A.M. SOFFEL Co., Inc.	Newark	ca 1920–1930
A.K. HAWKES Co.	New York	ca 1891–1915
A.J. WILD JEWELRY Co.	New York	ca 1880–1910
A.G. SCHULTZ & Co.	Baltimore	ca 1899–1950
A.F. TOWLE & SON Co. [later ROGERS, LUNT & BOWLEN Co.]	Greenfield	ca 1880–1902
A.F. TOWLE & SON Co. [later ROGERS, LUNT & BOWLEN Co.]	Greenfield	ca 1890–1902
A.E. TYLER	Providence	ca 1891–1928
A.E. GOODHUE	Mass.	ca 1950–1960
A.C. BECKEN Co.	Chicago	ca 1892–1930
A.B. SCHREUDER - HOTCHKISS & SCHREUDER [later SYRACUSE SILVER MFG Co.]	Syracuse	ca 1852–1895
A. WALLACH & Co.	New York	ca 1902–1928
A. ROSENBERG	Providence	ca 1880–1920
A. MARTIN	New York	ca 1880–1906
A. LUDWIG & SON	New York	ca 1875–1911
A. LOUNSBURY & SON	New York	ca 1897–1915
A. LEACH	Boston	ca 1860–1890
A. JORALEMON & SON	Newark	ca 1861–1915
A. CUTLER	Boston	ca 1820–1852
A. COHEN & SONS Corp. - CROSBY	New York	ca 1911–2024
A. BLUMSTEING - LUCIEN PICCARD	New York	ca 1947–2024
A. ANZELEWITZ & Co.	New York	ca 1884–1908
A. & Z. CHAIN Co.	Providence	ca 1905–1980