Colonial Silver - spoils of war?

[gtoast99]

Hey Ya'll! I tried three new spots with my friend Dustin a few days ago. The first two didn't pan out, but persistence pays off!

Mostly Colt pistol, one Smith, three Merrill's, one fired round ball. I'm not sure what the small carved bullet started out as, but I always like carved lead.

As for brass, I found my second kepi hat buckle, two button backs, one incredibly fragile General Service eagle button, and two early flat buttons. One is a large copper button, fairly thin and plain. The other is a smaller, probably a bit later, and has a nice silver wash. It should clean up well. Dustin also found a beautiful silvered colonial dandy button with a star design, as well as some more Civil War relics.

My find of the hunt was this plow damaged silver spoon. Although the condition leaves a lot to be desired, It's one of my favorite recoveries of my detecting career. I searched for more pieces of the spoon bowl, but the ones I did find were scattered over a surprisingly large area by farming activity. The spoon handle has an ornate monogrammed letter "A". From our research into the site beforehand, we knew the family that owned the farm during the war lived in a nearby home since the late 1700's... and their surname started with that same letter "A". I think it is highly likely that the two are connected, but of course we will never know for certain.

The spoon is also hallmarked by the maker on the back - the letters "HW" in a rectangle with triangle cutouts on the sides.. Through the help of a friend who collects early American silver, we were able to find the maker of the spoon was Henry Wills, of New York, sometime around 1774. WOW! That means the spoon I removed from that field was hand crafted before this country had seen it's first Independence Day. What an incredible hobby!!

I'll close with one last bit of speculation. I do know approximately where the home site is located, and it is down the road a distance from the field we were detecting. It's likely that the early flat buttons we recovered were from farming activities in the fields over the years. It's also quite possible that the colonial spoon was lost in that field in a similar manner - the owners were having a meal in the field and it lay there for the next 200 years. But is there another explanation? I do have one primary source document that mentions that the house was looted by Yankee cavalry during the war. Is it possible that this silver spoon was taken as spoils of war and left in camp? Of course, it is all speculation, and we will probably never know. But it is interesting to think about.

Thanks for looking, happy hunting, and God bless.

 

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[cjon455]

Now that is incredible, all that lead and silver to top it off! that's the type of hunting I DREAM of

congrats!!

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice digs.

 

[digging440yrs]

Awesome !!!

 

[sutphin]

HEY TOAST THATS A NICE GROUP OF RELICS, THE SPOON IS NEAT..

 

[OWK]

Your spoon was actually made by Henry White in Fredericksburg Virginia, between about 1815, and 1827

Nice find.

 

[DownNDirty]

It's always great to know the history behind relics you find-makes them even more special.

 

[gtoast99]

Your spoon was actually made by Henry White in Fredericksburg Virginia, between about 1815, and 1827

Nice find.

Interesting! What is your source? Not doubting just trying to get the right information.

The HW hallmark I saw was listed here American Silver Marks W5 - Online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Makers' Marks
Notice the triangles on the sides and between the letters are identical to my hallmark.

Either way its pretty awesome. Hopefully we can get it narrowed down definitively. Other opinions welcome.

 

[gtoast99]

Here's a secondary source that attributes an identical hallmark to Henry White of Fredericksburg. This spoon is listed as circa 1800-1810 and White's years of production after apprenticeship as 1792-1818 and then continuing with his son until his death in 1827. Curiouser and curiouser. I do think this one is more likely especially given where it was found (central Virginia). Thanks for the lead!

Silver Spoon

 

[OWK]

Interesting! What is your source? Not doubting just trying to get the right information.

The HW hallmark I saw was listed here American Silver Marks W5 - Online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Makers' Marks
Notice the triangles on the sides and between the letters are identical to my hallmark.

Either way its pretty awesome. Hopefully we can get it narrowed down definitively. Other opinions welcome.

My source is me. I am a collector and dealer in American Coin Silver, and have been for 3 decades.

To start things off, the spoon is a "fiddle" form spoon. (this is the term typically used to describe the way your spoon widens at the base of the handle). Fiddle spoons did not come into fashion in America until about 1815. Prior to this time, spoons had a straight handle with a rounded or pointed base. Or a coffin-form handle which was similar to the earlier straight handle spoons, but had the corners clipped off, resembling a coffin.

So your spoon definitely dates no earlier than 1815 or so.

The first website you listed is an online resource that is not very accurate with it's attributions. This is well known among collectors of coin silver. While none of them are perfect, better online resources can be found

Here:

Silversmith Directory

And here:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~silversmiths/makers/silversmiths/

As for the Henry White mark, the site you referenced actually includes a mark that is Henry White's, but mistakenly attributes it to Henry Willis. Henry White used a total of 7 different marks, some of which were unique, and other of which were made by re-shaping earlier marks which were damaged in use. Your spoon was marked with such a mark. It originally said "H.WHITE" but was reshaped to "H.W" after it broke during use. This was not uncommon.

I can say (based on the style of the spoon alone) with 100% certainty that it was not made by Henry Willis, and that it was not made prior to about 1815.

I can likewise say that I believe it was made by Henry White, but without a closer examination of the spoon, I would give no more than an 85% confidence in that attribution.

All things considered, an awesome find.

 

[OWK]

Here's a secondary source that attributes an identical hallmark to Henry White of Fredericksburg. This spoon is listed as circa 1800-1810 and White's years of production after apprenticeship as 1792-1818 and then continuing with his son until his death in 1827. Curiouser and curiouser. I do think this one is more likely especially given where it was found (central Virginia). Thanks for the lead!

Silver Spoon

If the spoon was found in central Va, I would raise my confidence in the Henry White attribution to nearly 100%.

 

[DownNDirty]

Thanks for proving that explanation and also the link-very helpful. Being able to learn from experts such as yourself and others is one thing that makes this board such a valuable resource and always interesting. Keep 'em coming!

 

[gtoast99]

Awesome!!! Thank you SO MUCH!! Gotta love this forum. I really appreciate the added information, makes it that much more special to me.

 

[OWK]

I'm sure value wasn't your greatest concern, but if the spoon had been in good condition, it would have been worth far more as a Southern coin silver example, than as a Northern one.

Southern coin silver is considered more rare (and hence more desirable to collectors).

The particular maker has a lot to do with it, but Southern examples generally sell for many times the price of Northern ones. Most collectors attribute this price difference to the loss of plundered Southern silver during the Civil War.

 

[Mach1Pilot]

Ya had a great hunt, Tony! Good to see you found a site that produced well. And to OWK that was a great explanation as to how to date those spoons.

 

[gtoast99]

Yea, I'd be more interested in value for curiosity's sake if I had gotten to it before the plow lol. But I do wonder if this piece wasn't part of that plundering you talk about, and accidentally left in camp. An interesting historical footnote for this particular piece. Thanks again!

 

[OWK]

Ya had a great hunt, Tony! Good to see you found a site that produced well. And to OWK that was a great explanation as to how to date those spoons.

Thanks,

There are even more specific details that can be added, which could date any spoon to an approximately 20 year window.

I ought to compile that list of features into a quick reference guide for dating silver spoons.

 

[OWK]

Yea, I'd be more interested in value for curiosity's sake if I had gotten to it before the plow lol. But I do wonder if this piece wasn't part of that plundering you talk about, and accidentally left in camp. An interesting historical footnote for this particular piece. Thanks again!

Could very well have been plundered.

It would be interesting to tie the spoon monogram to a family, and perhaps even to the original silversmith's receipt book.

Many local historical societies have receipt books for the silversmiths that worked in their areas. These are sometimes very detailed, telling how many spoons were ordered, what they were made from, how much the transaction cost, and when they were made (specific date).

All that can often be gleaned from a simple monogram.

Call me weird, but I find this stuff fascinating.

 

[DownNDirty]

If that makes you weird then you're in good company.

 

[DownNDirty]

OWK-What can you tell me about this pewter spoon I found last weekend? There is no makers mark unfortunately; it was found at the site of a Lowcountry South Carolina plantation that dates back to the late 17th century.