Cutlery Gift - Is it Silver?

British Silver Reading Silver Hallmarks
1

Hi,

First time poster here.

My Aunt has recently given us a set of Cutlery as an early Wedding present. She is now in her 80’s but used to be an Antique dealer and has told my parents that they are definitely silver. Apparently, she bought them a number of years ago, and paid around £350 for them. She has also said thinks they are french.

The cutlery all has the mark ‘Bg’ on them plus ‘90’. The set of spoons only, have the name ‘Jan Wellem’ on them. I have done as much googling as I can, and the name implies they are german, and the ‘90’ leads me to believe they are silver plate, which is in contrast to what I have been told.

I have taken some pictures below, and would appreciate some advice from you silver experts on here as to whether they are silver or not, and their origins and rough date.

Many thanks
Mark


DSC_0154 by garreth64, on Flickr


DSC_0157 - Version 2 by garreth64, on Flickr


DSC_0159 by garreth64, on Flickr


DSC_0164 by garreth64, on Flickr

2

I believe they are most likely electroplate although I cannot give you any details af manufacturer or even country of origin. However “90” is a fairly common electroplate marking in Germany and to a lesser extent in France and indicates the weight of pure silver in grams used to plate, normally, 24 items.

3

Thanks for the comments.

Any advice on the best way of confirming these? I live near Birmingham, would there be anyone in the Jewellery Quarter that could check if these are silver or plate?

4

Almost certainly, but I am completely unable to make any recommendations or suggestions.