MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF USA AND CANADA SILVERPLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER MAKERS |
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This is a page of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu, a 1500 pages richly illustrated website offering all you need to know about antique silver, sterling silver, silverplate, sheffield plate, electroplate silver, silverware, flatware, tea services and tea complements, marks and hallmarks, articles, books, auction catalogs, famous silversmiths (Tiffany, Gorham, Jensen, Elkington), history, oddities ... SITE MAP - HOME PAGE |
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AMERICAN SILVER PLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER - ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MAKERS: - Ro-Rz - |
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AMERICAN SILVERPLATE MARKS Aa / Al Am / Az Ba / Bh Bi / Bz C D E F G H I J K L Ma / Mh Mi / Mz N O P Q Ra / Rn Ro / Rz Sa / Sl Sm / Sz T U V Wa / Wd We / Wz X Y Z HOW TO READ, DECRYPT AND IDENTIFY THE MARKS ON AMERICAN SILVERPLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER |
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ROGERS & HAMILTON CO - Waterbury, CT Active at Waterbury, CT (incorporated in 1886). Manufacturer of silverplated flatware in the building of Holmes Booth & Hayden. The president was Charles Alfred Hamilton, while William H. Rogers (not a silversmith) was only a stockholder. The firm was one of the original companies to become part of International Silver Co. in 1898 go to ROGERS SILVERMITHS DIRECTORY |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | ROGERS & WENDT |
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C. ROGERS & BROS Organised in Meriden by Cephas B. Rogers, Gilbert Rogers and Wilbur F. Rogers (1866). The firm was bought by International Silver Co in 1903 and the trademarks were retired (they were considered an 'imitation' of the original Rogers Brothers production) go to ROGERS SILVERMITHS DIRECTORY |
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F.B.ROGERS SILVER CO - Taunton MA Founded in 1883 at Shellburne Falls, Ma, moved to Taunton in 1886. Before 1896 absorbed West Silver Co. Became a division of National Silver Company (1955) and was bought in 1985 by J.C. Boardman go to ROGERS SILVERMITHS DIRECTORY |
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H.O. ROGERS SILVER CO - Taunton MA Active at Taunton. Incorporated in 1913, listed in Taunton City Directories up to 1923. The first president of the company was Harry O Rogers go to ROGERS SILVERMITHS DIRECTORY |
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J. ROGERS SILVER CO - New York, NY Active c. 1901-1929. Acquired by ONEIDA go to ROGERS SILVERMITHS DIRECTORY |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | ROGERS, LUNT & BOWLEN CO |
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N.B. ROGERS SILVER PLATE CO - Brooklyn, NY and Danbury, CT Active in Brooklyn, NY, from 1870 and later in Danbury, CT. Nathaniel Burton Rogers was senior member of the partnership with Mr. Karcher until 1877, when he retired selling the business to Mr. Karcher (possibly a relative). The firm was known as manufacturer of jewel boxes still pictured in Sears catalogs in 1920 (Information courtesy Joanne Wiertella) go to ROGERS SILVERMITHS DIRECTORY |
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SIMEON L. & GEORGE H. ROGERS CO.- Hartford, CT Active from 1900. The firm was acquired by Wm. A. Rogers Ltd in 1918 and absorbed by Oneida Silversmiths in 1929. The production was located also in Canada (supposedly after 1918, when the firm was acquired by Wm A. Rogers Ltd) go to ROGERS SILVERMITHS DIRECTORY |
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ROGERS, SMITH & CO Organised in 1857 by William Rogers Sr. and George W. Smith. The firm was merged in 1861 with Rogers Brothers Mfg Co under the presidence of William Rogers. The tools and the dies were bought in 1862 by Meriden Britannia Co transferring to Meriden the production of the 1847 Rogers Bros line under the direction of William Rogers. In 1863 Meriden Britannia Co bought the hollowware division. In 1865 the plating shop was transferred from New Haven to Meriden and merged with Meriden Britannia Co in 1866. Rogers, Smith & Co ceased to exist as a separate firm and was used as a trademark of Meriden Britannia Co when the International Silver Co was formed in 1898 approximate date period by location on the mark: Hartford, 1857-1862 New Haven, 1862-1877 Meriden, 1877-1904 go to ROGERS SILVERMITHS DIRECTORY |
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ROGERS & SPURR MFG CO - Greenfield, MA Founded in 1879 by David C. Rogers and Geo. E. Rogers. They were successors of George W. Spurr & Co who started in business c. 1873. The firm has been sued by William Rogers Mfg Co for "defraud the complainants by stamping their spoons, forks, and knives with the names, "Rogers" and "Rogers & Son" and "Rogers & Son Greenfield, Mass." and that in February, 1881, the said George W. Spurr, David C. Rogers, and George E. Rogers, with others, formed the defendant corporation, with the intent to make, and that said corporation has made and sold, spoons, forks, and knives stamped Rogers & Son, Greenfield, Mass., (with an arrow)" go to ROGERS SILVERMITHS DIRECTORY |
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WILLIAM ROGERS - Wallingford CT |
The two common forms of plated silver are Sheffield plate and silverplate/electroplate.
Sheffield Plate is a cheaper substitute for sterling, produced by fusing sheets of silver to the top and bottom of a sheet of copper or base metal. This 'silver sandwich' was then worked into finished pieces. At first it was only put on one side and later was on top and bottom.
Modern electroplating was invented by Italian chemist Luigi V. Brugnatelli in 1805. Brugnatelli used his colleague Alessandro Volta's invention of five years earlier, the voltaic pile, to facilitate the first electrodeposition. Unfortunately, Brugnatelli's inventions were repressed by the French Academy of Sciences and did not become used in general industry for the following thirty years.
Silver plate or electroplate is formed when a thin layer of pure or sterling silver is deposited electrolytically on the surface of a base metal. By 1839, scientists in Britain and Russia had independently devised metal deposition processes similar to Brugnatelli's for the copper electroplating of printing press plates.
Soon after, John Wright of Birmingham, England, discovered that potassium cyanide was a suitable electrolyte for gold and silver electroplating.
Wright's associates, George Elkington and Henry Elkington were awarded the first patents for electroplating in 1840. These two then founded the electroplating industry in Birmingham England from where it spread around the world.
Common base metals include copper, brass, nickel silver - an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel - and Britannia metal-a tin alloy with 5-10% antimony. Electroplated materials are often stamped EPNS for electroplated nickel or silver, or EPBM for electroplated Britannia metal.
Sheffield plate by the fusion process was not made in America, but factories here did turn out quantities of electroplated silver. In fact, it was so popular that one English firm with several variations of its name, but all including Dixon, sold quantities of electroplated silver, issued catalogues, and even had a New York showroom.
Today there is a great deal of American plated silver which has been treasured for years. Many families had plated silver as well as fine sterling. Some of it was inherited; some prized for sentimental reasons. If you have this plated ware, and it is as dear to you as fine early silver, then you are among the happy people of this world.
On plated silver the terms 'triple' and 'quadruple' indicate the number of coatings received by the base metal in the electroplating process. Naturally the more metal used in the plating the longer the piece should last. Polishing and wear have taken their toll of much of this plated ware and whether pieces are worth replating depends on their usefulness and your pleasure in them. If you like them well enough to spend money on them, then by all means have the work done, but remember a piece is worth at market value only the metal that is in it, the base metal under the plating being worth very little.
E.P.N.S. (Electroplated Nickel Silver) and EPBM (Electroplated Britannia Metal) are the most common names attributed to silver plate items. But many other names are used for silver plate:
EPWM, Electroplate on White Metal, EPC, Electroplate On Copper, EPCA, Electro Plated Copper Alloy, EPGS - Electro Plated German Silver, EPMS - Electro Plated Magnetic Silver, African Silver, Albion Silver, Alpha Plate, Ambassador Plate, Angle Plate, Argentium, Argentine Plate, Argentum, Ascetic, Austrian Silver, Brazilian Silver, Britanoid, Cardinal Plate, Electrum, Embassy Plate, Encore, Exquisite, Insignia Plate, Kingsley Plate, New Silver, Nevada Silver, Norwegian Silver, Pelican Silver, Potosi Silver, Royal County Plate, Silva Seal, Silverite, Sonora Silver, Spur Silver, Stainless Nickel, Stainless Nickel Silver, Unity Plate, Venetian Silver, Welbeck Plate,
| STERLING SILVER OF USA AND CANADA |
| SILVER MANUFACTURERS: MARKS, HISTORY AND INFORMATION |
 Fabergé Gorham International Silver Co Georg Jensen Kirk Stieff Meriden Britannia Reed & Barton Rogers Tiffany & Co Towle Wallace Wiener Werkstatte WMF |
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