Posted 8 years ago
Steptoe1
(1979 items)
Hello I have this bottle coaster which looks quite modern and guess they didn't notice the marks, I don't know anything about these as not had one before.
Silver bottle coaster | ||
| English Silver69 of 177 |  |  |
Barker Bros 1927 Birmingham England Mark.
http://www.ebay.tv/sch/i.html?_odkw=silver+wine+coaster&_sop=22&_osacat=20096&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xsilver+barker++coaster.TRS0&_nkw=silver+barker++coaster&_sacat=20096
Oh thanks Dave your great at knowing what stuff is, didn't you have to even look it up? I wish I knew half of what you do.
I got confused at the link then realised those was all plated ones,
Link was to look at marks. You can Google Barker Bros 925 coaster and look in images
Here ya Go, right side few down.
http://www.925-1000.com/dlBirmingham.html
My Memory isn't as good as it once was but sometimes I will see something and remember seeing it before, just takes me a few seconds for brain to kick in...lol
Ok yeah I see it great stuff. I have trouble with marks as most of the time I can't see them even with a loop.
Dave is right about the Birmingham mar but the Queen's head at the end is the current queen Elizabeth II. So 1927 is not right. It will be later. She began her reign in 1952. Unfortunately there is no year letter added to this piece. That's because the English system was modified in 1999.
In this case there is one thing that gives the date and that is the Queen's head mark. That is a mark used in her Golden Jubilee year of 2002.
http://www.silvercollection.it/dictionaryhallmarkingUK.html
An amazing nteresting article to read.
Contemporary English silver is a different kettle of fish.
The other thing that is a bit of a puzzle is the date and the Barker Bros. mark.
That mark of BE SCo was registered red in 1964.
Barker, Ellis Silver Co.
Birmingham - maker's mark reg. 1964 (BESCo)
"In the 1960s, merging with Ellis & Co (Birmingham) Ltd, the firm changed to Barker Ellis Silver Co Ltd.
On January 2, 1979, the firm obtained a Federal registration in the USA for the trademarks Ellis & Co, Barker Ellis and Ellis Barker (the marks were cancelled in 1988).
The company went into administration in 1992."
http://www.silvercollection.it/ENGLBARKERBROS.html
That is the anomaly.
In this case it might be old stock being hallmarked in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee.
Thanks vet great info and sounds puzzling about the dates, if they went into administration in 92
Old stock readied for the Jubilee makes sense.
In England you can't sell a silver item without the hallmarks.
Even an antique item 300 years old without those marks is considered illegal until they are sent to the guild hall for marking.