Hey I recently came across a set of 6 of these beatiful spoons. From the hallmarks I would assume Russian but i haven’t had any luck with the makers mark. Also does anyone have an idea on what these could potwntially be worth?
From the left, the first is the maker’s mark, IA (in Cyrillic), but I haven’t found anything that indicates who that was. Next is the assayer’s mark, for 1878. The assayer’s initials should be above the date, but that’s rubbed - see if there are some clearer letters on one of the other spoons. Next is 84, for 84/96 zolotniki, which is .875 pure silver, less than sterling. Finally, I believe the horse is the Moscow mark.
Cheers for your help mate! The assayer’s intials were B.C . I looked at another spoon. Do you have any idea if Russian spoons like these are sought after by collectors?
Given the 1878 date, it looks like you have your choice of two assayers, Viktor Savinsky or Vladimir Smirnov:
Sterling spoons are always worth at least something above their melt value. But my gut impression, which may or may not be correct, is that Russian spoons don’t start attracting much attention unless they’re also enameled. Poke around the “sold” listing on eBay (ignore the “buy it now” prices, which often reflect a lot of wishful thinking) to get some idea.
Hi,
The maker is probably Alekseyev Ivan Alekseyevich, owner of a plant from 1876, known up to 1912. In 1897, he employed around 40 persons, and his yearly income was 13 000 rubles.
The city mark is St. George riding a horse.
Best regards,
G.