When it came to dating the pieces by the year, Gorham embraced the sterling standard in 1868 and marks for each year were added. Pieces created between 868 and 1884 were marked with capital letters. Then, from 1885 to 1933, icons were used, such as a wolf head or a parachute.

Is silverplate worth any money?

Heavy sterling silver items composed of 90% silver can be worth a small fortune depending on the metal market. Since there is only a small amount of silver on each item, there is no melting value for silverplate. Pieces that are more decorative, rare, and in good condition might sell for more money.

Is Gorham silver valuable?

Retail, the 72-piece flatware set should probably be valued in the $3,000 to $4,000 range — if it is indeed without serving pieces — but for fair market value, that price drops significantly to the items’ worth as silver metal, and that is probably in the $1,000 to $1,500 range.

What do the hallmarks on Gorham Silver mean?

Dating a piece of Gorham silver is a question of decoding the hallmarks on the back or bottom of each piece. Hallmarks on the silver pieces were not consistent in the first few years. In 1848, Gorham silver marks consisted of a lion, anchor, and the letter “ G .”

When did Gorham stop using the year mark?

The use of the year mark was suspended until 1941, at which time Gorham silver adopted a system of marking their ” important pieces” with polygonal figures sorrounding a numeral. The number of the sides indicated the decade of manufacture, the numeral, the year. 1950, 1960 and 1970 dates had no numeral.

What is the date on a Gorham Silver fruit stand?

The number of the sides indicated the decade of manufacture, the numeral, the year. 1950, 1960 and 1970 dates had no numeral. note 1: a 1870 fruit stand presents a combined letter/symbol mark (letter “C” and symbol “heart”). “Heart” mark is unknown to Dorothy T. Rainwater “Encyclopaedia of American Silver Manufacturers”

How can you tell if a Gorham tea set is sterling silver?

Let’s dive further into the Gorham sterling silver identification over the years… Being able to identify a piece of sterling silver, whether it is a silver plate mark or a tea set, as a Gorham piece is fairly simple thanks to the consistent silver markings that were used during the manufacturing of the pieces.