hi
i have three questions, this is a set of 10 pieces, 5 forks and 5 knives. I have searched extensively, and now can identify the City of Hamburg Germany, but the other two marks remain a mystery.
i need to know if they are sterling or silver...is it typical of this age piece to not be marked with silver purity?
what do those other marks indicate?
any reason why the front of the fork would be stamped? is that significant at all? i have only seen stamps on the reverse. thanks!
The “A” under the Hamburg towers is the mark of assayer Jacob N. W. Schaeffer, who served from 19 Apr 1828 to 30 Aug 1851, thus dating your set to the second quarter of the 19th century. This mark guaranteed the silver fineness of 13 löt (.812) unless marked otherwise, so your set - which is a fruit or dessert set - is indeed silver.
“IFB” is the maker’s mark of Johann Friedrich Brahmfeld (1790-1852), whose shop later became the famous Brahmfeld & Gutruf. The “43” is called a concession number, which was unique to Hamburg. It was issued by the city to silver dealers who may or may not have also been manufacturers; is essence, it is a retailer’s mark. “43” was issued to Carl Beuningen, who was apparently just a retailer.
Finally, I suspect the forks were struck where they were simply because it was the place least likely to cause damage: the handle looks hollow and the stem thin, leaving only the tines, which had to be placed with the curve upwards, since placing them the other way would cause them to flatten out when struck!
