Posted 2 years ago
Shropshire…
(3 items)
Can anyone tell me why these silver buttons don't have a hallmark?? i have been told that they are silver, but why wouldn't they have been hallmarked? any info would be helpfull thanks :)
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The registration number tells you that the design of the buttons was registered in 1900. WILSON & GILL (London) . Business established in 1892 by Samuel Wilson and Robert Valentine Gill at 134 Regent Street, London. Later the firm was transformed into Wilson & Gill Ltd and into Wilson & Gill (1971) Ltd.
They should be hallmarked if they are silver at this time. They may well be silver plated buttons. They are what they are and the marks you have tell you a date and the box gives you a maker.
I forgot to add that they are nice buttons. The have a medaeval revival look to them.
Thanks vetraio50! i had to sell them on behalf of a friend who had to return to Australia, i popped them into a local auction, i did do a little scratch test to see if they were plated but they did appear solid silver?? anyway they only managed to achieve about £56 i was a little disappointed as i think they are beautiful! but i'm no expert? so someone either got a bargain or did actually buy them as plated?? thanks again anyway, kind regards Fay x
Hi, they may well have been silver, but without those hallmarks....all an auctioneer can do is to describe them as white metal. The only other alternative is to have them assayed yourself. It seems it's free in the UK. The only problem would be that they would put this years mark on them rather than 1901. I think you did well for your friend.
Thanks Vetraio50 yes he was pleased with everything i had auctioned, it was me that was disappointed! i wish i'd have brought them myself but i was away on holiday at the time of the auction, not good timing, i hope they went to a good home and the appreciate how beautiful they are :) thanks for the info all the same.
Lovely Art Nouveau Buttons! After the Registration marks were stamped into the Buttons, they usually would have been sent off to an assay office to receive a hallmark. This set may not have been sent OR another possibility is: I noticed in your second picture that part of the registration number had been "snipped" away. It's possible that the hallmark was removed from one of the crudely cut out areas on the Button.
Thanks Buttonista! I did search every millimetre of the buttons, they were a friends inheritance and sadly as with all the other items I posted he auctioned really sad! i would have loved to have kept them all :(