✅ SOLVED Can you read this?

[cdsieg]

I will try to clean it better tomorrow but I thought I would throw it on here before I call it a night and see if anyone has any thoughts on it. I think I make out the word silver, I assume the word before it will be something like "nickel" or "not" LOL

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

It said "NICKEL SILVER". Looks like there was also a manuacturer's name. It MIGHT have said "Wm. Rogers & Son Nickel Silver."

As you probably already know, the term Nickel-Silver is a misnomer ...it doesn't contain any actual silver. The term actualy means Nickel-plated. With flatware (eating utensils, etc) it was usually Nickel-plating on a brass body. Nickel-silver plating first became popular in the 1870s/1880s, as a cheaper (and longer-lasting) substitute for silverplate. Insofar as we button collectors know, no civil war era buttons were Nickel-plated, but they become common by the 1880s. Therefore, I would guess that your "Nickel Silver" marked spoon dates from the 1880s or later.

 

[cdsieg]

It said "NICKEL SILVER". Looks like there was also a manuacturer's name. It MIGHT have said "Wm. Rogers & Son Nickel Silver."

As you probably already know, the term Nickel-Silver is a misnomer ...it doesn't contain any actual silver. The term actualy means Nickel-plated. With flatware (eating utensils, etc) it was usually Nickel-plating on a brass body. Nickel-silver plating first became popular in the 1870s/1880s, as a cheaper (and longer-lasting) substitute for silverplate. Insofar as we button collectors know, no civil war era buttons were Nickel-plated, but they become common by the 1880s. Therefore, I would guess that your "Nickel Silver" marked spoon dates from the 1880s or later.

Thanks!
I knew the rust was a dead give away for it not being real silver! I appreciate your feedback.

 

[steelheadwill]

no rust, just the red color as seen on nickel based coins,
Nickel silver, german silver, mexican silver, alpaca silver, Brittania metal, EPNS, and most anything
marked Rogers, all junk.

BUT, don't be too quick to judge your finds,
silver can sometimes look like rusty iron or blacken and blister like pewter....
get a test kit HH, Herbie.

 

[cdsieg]

no rust, just the red color as seen on nickel based coins,
Nickel silver, german silver, mexican silver, alpaca silver, Brittania metal, EPNS, and most anything
marked Rogers, all junk.

BUT, don't be too quick to judge your finds,
silver can sometimes look like rusty iron or blacken and blister like pewter....
get a test kit HH, Herbie.

Thanks HH, I do have a test kit, but I appreciate the heads up that sometimes it appears rusted, I am more careful with finds that I think might have some value!