Old pearl handled knive with hallmarks, 1880

HickoryNut · Post by **HickoryNut** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:07 pm

I bought this knife awhile back. It has three hallmarks and then the initials JF. I was fortunate enough to get some info on the knife when I bought it. The initials J.F. stand for John Fee of Sheffeild England. It was made in or around 1880. Its a pretty neat piece. The First hallmark is a crown, the second is a lion, the third is a symbol of some kind.

Anyone know much about these?

knife is 3 1/4 inches closed, has a halh stop and awsome engraving on the blade and handles.

smiling-knife · Post by **smiling-knife** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 3:05 pm

It is a posh Fruit Knife. The blades were made of sterling silver as this was much more resistant to the acids contained in the fruit. This is before the time of Stainless Steel and the old steels would quicky tarnish if used for cutting fruit. Being made of silver and pearl meant they were relatively pricey at the time and likely beyond the means of working-class families. All silver items were assessed duty by the crown and the hallmarks were away of monitoring this as well as an asurrance to the purchaser. The crown is the assay place symbol (Sheffield) not necessarily where it was made but likely so in this case. Makers would have to take/send their silver to the local assay office to have the purity assessed and receive the sterling stamp (min .925 silver). The lion is the symbol for sterling in England, The other symbol is likey some sort of stylized letter which represents the year of manufacture. Then as you pointed out, the makers mark.

s-k

PA Knives · Post by **PA Knives** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:02 pm

Gosh Smiling-Knife. I just learned more in one paragraph on the fruit knife subject than I have ever thought before on the subject. Thanks for enlightening me.

smiling-knife · Post by **smiling-knife** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:21 pm

Hi did some more checking on date marks. The date mark for 1880 is a capital N in fancy font within an 8 sided shield i.e., a square with the corners cut off. I can't tell from the photo on my laptop so do you think that is what it looks like? If not maybe you can get a close-up photo. s-k

s-k

Thanks. PA I do my best to contribute where possible. I'm learning a lot every time I do a little research.

Sorry for rambling slightly off topic. The punishment for forging the hallmarks up until 1773 was death, then it was changed to transportation (free of charge) and 14 years at her/his majesty's pleasure in one of the Empire's penal colonies. Today the maximum is 10 years in prison.

OK only two more bits of info and then I'll stop. The small percentage of the blade that wasn't silver was typically copper for durability.
The decoration on the blade was added after the assay. I assume because if it failed the test then the value of the blade was dramatically reduced and there was no need to devote the time and effort to the engraving.

smiling-knife · Post by **smiling-knife** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:23 pm

You may be getting tired of me by now. The J-F is the registered mark of James Fenton of Birmingham. Birmingham had its own assay office (symbol = anchor). The crown is clearly the symbol of the Sheffield assay office. Don't know how to explain this. Maybe he had a branch office there. Maybe the blade was made in Birmingham but engraved, or knife assembled or something in Sheffield which was reknowned for the the allied trades e.g. handles, engravers etc. Maybe there was a backlog at the Birmingham office. It is a civil service situation like the DMV. Yet another mystery.

s-k

HickoryNut · Post by **HickoryNut** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:32 pm

Can any of you give me a rough guess as to what its worth?

Oh, and that last hallmark looks like a fancy D or O

Thanks guys!

HickoryNut · Post by **HickoryNut** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:39 pm

Here is a better picture of the hallmarks.

smiling-knife · Post by **smiling-knife** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:43 pm

HickoryNut wrote:Oh, and that last hallmark looks like a fancy D or O
thanks guys!

Those are really crisp marks.

'Fancy' D 1876
'Fancy' O 1881 - looks like this IMO

Very rough guess on value 50.00

Could be more looks in very good condition and engraved blade nice and less common. I'm no expert in this respect. Just a guess.

s-k

Bryan · Post by **Bryan** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 9:32 pm

Hey S-K,

Just wanted to say that I've enjoyed this very informative and interesting informatin that you have shared here.

I learned lots of new stuff

. Thanks!

Bryan

JOE62 · Post by **JOE62** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:15 pm

I'm with Bryan, Thanks S-K! Glad you came here. You've been a big help since you signed on.

smiling-knife · Post by **smiling-knife** » Fri Mar 24, 2006 7:53 am

Thanks guys.. I appreciate the support

. Happy to help when i can and learn from everyone here the rest of the time.

As far as value here is one somewhat similar that will give a rough indication of ebay value anyway.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MOTHER-OF-PEARL-V ... dZViewItem

s-k