Souvenir Spoon?

[twiasp]

Hey guys, so I found this today at a local thrift shop for 4.98+tax. It is non magnetic, appears to be silver from touch, have not acid tested it, and can see some white polish that is on it where somebody has cleaned it at one time. It also has a tag still attached to it with the price missing. The tag reads "Italian Sterling silver souvenir spoon "Leopold II" ca. 1890". As always any information about it would be great, not sure if I trust the tag on it, but this tag is not from that thrift shop, they don't tag things. The date on the coin reads 1830, looked at under a 10x loupe.

 

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[CladSpends2]

I believe the coin is from Tuscany. Which is in Italy. And this is your Leopold II:

[h=1]Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany[/h]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. (February 2012)

Leopold II
Grand Duke Leopold in the uniform of an Austrian Field Marshal, 1828, by Pietro Benvenuti.
Grand Duke of Tuscany
Reign	18 June 1824 – 21 July 1859
Predecessor	Ferdinand III
Successor	Ferdinand IV
Consort	Maria Anna of Saxony Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies
Detail Issue
Caroline of Austria Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande Archduchess Maria Maximiliana Archduchess Maria Isabella Ferdinand IV Archduchess Maria Theresa Archduchess Maria Christina Archduke Karl Salvator Archduchess Maria Anna Archduke Rainer Archduchess Maria Louisa Archduke Ludwig Salvator Archduke John Salvator
Full name
Leopold Johann Joseph Franz Ferdinand Karl
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Ferdinand III
Mother	Luisa of Naples and Sicily
Born	3 October 1797 Florence
Died	29 January 1870(1870-01-29) (aged 72) Rome
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Portrait of Leopold II as a young man.


Leopold II of Tuscany (Italian: Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Francesco Ferdinando Carlo, German: Leopold Johann Joseph Franz Ferdinand Karl; 3 October 1797 – 29 January 1870) was Grand Duke of Tuscany (1824–1859).
He married twice; first to Maria Anna of Saxony, and after her death in 1832, to Maria Antonia of the Two-Sicilies. By the latter, he begat his eventual successor, Ferdinand. Leopold was recognized contemporarily as a liberal monarch, authorizing the Tuscan Constitution of 1848, and allowing a degree of free press.
The Grand Duke was deposed briefly by a provisional government in 1849, only to be restored the same year with the assistance of Austrian troops, who occupied the state until 1855. Leopold attempted a policy of neutrality with regard to the Second Italian War of Independence, but was expelled by a bloodless coup on 27 April 1859, just before the beginning of the war. The Grand Ducal family left for Bologna, in Papal territory. Tuscany was occupied by soldiers of Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia for the duration of the conflict. The preliminary peace of Villafranca, agreed to between Napoleon III of France and Franz Joseph of Austria on 11 July, provided for the return of the Lorraines to Florence, but Leopold himself was considered too unpopular to be accepted, so on 21 July 1859 he abdicated the throne in favour of his son, Ferdinand. Ferdinand was not, however, any more acceptable to the revolutionaries in control of Florence, and his accession was not proclaimed. Instead, the provisional government proclaimed the deposition of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (16 August).

T.

 

[CladSpends2]

I believe the coin is from Tuscany. Which is in Italy. And this is your Leopold II: Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. (February 2012)

Leopold II
Grand Duke Leopold in the uniform of an Austrian Field Marshal, 1828, by Pietro Benvenuti.
Grand Duke of Tuscany
Reign	18 June 1824 – 21 July 1859
Predecessor	Ferdinand III
Successor	Ferdinand IV
Consort	Maria Anna of Saxony Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies
Detail Issue
Caroline of Austria Archduchess Auguste Ferdinande Archduchess Maria Maximiliana Archduchess Maria Isabella Ferdinand IV Archduchess Maria Theresa Archduchess Maria Christina Archduke Karl Salvator Archduchess Maria Anna Archduke Rainer Archduchess Maria Louisa Archduke Ludwig Salvator Archduke John Salvator
Full name
Leopold Johann Joseph Franz Ferdinand Karl
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Ferdinand III
Mother	Luisa of Naples and Sicily
Born	3 October 1797 Florence
Died	29 January 1870(1870-01-29) (aged 72) Rome
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Portrait of Leopold II as a young man. Leopold II of Tuscany (Italian: Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Francesco Ferdinando Carlo, German: Leopold Johann Joseph Franz Ferdinand Karl; 3 October 1797 – 29 January 1870) was Grand Duke of Tuscany (1824–1859). He married twice; first to Maria Anna of Saxony, and after her death in 1832, to Maria Antonia of the Two-Sicilies. By the latter, he begat his eventual successor, Ferdinand. Leopold was recognized contemporarily as a liberal monarch, authorizing the Tuscan Constitution of 1848, and allowing a degree of free press. The Grand Duke was deposed briefly by a provisional government in 1849, only to be restored the same year with the assistance of Austrian troops, who occupied the state until 1855. Leopold attempted a policy of neutrality with regard to the Second Italian War of Independence, but was expelled by a bloodless coup on 27 April 1859, just before the beginning of the war. The Grand Ducal family left for Bologna, in Papal territory. Tuscany was occupied by soldiers of Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia for the duration of the conflict. The preliminary peace of Villafranca, agreed to between Napoleon III of France and Franz Joseph of Austria on 11 July, provided for the return of the Lorraines to Florence, but Leopold himself was considered too unpopular to be accepted, so on 21 July 1859 he abdicated the throne in favour of his son, Ferdinand. Ferdinand was not, however, any more acceptable to the revolutionaries in control of Florence, and his accession was not proclaimed. Instead, the provisional government proclaimed the deposition of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (16 August). T.

 

[twiasp]

Found the coin, this is exactly like the one on the spoon except the spoon one is bent to make a small cupped shape. Says the coin is silver but doesn't say the %. Good start to maybe being an authentically old souvenir spoon =)

TOSCANA Fiorino 1830 LEOPOLDO II di LORENA argento BB+ # 82570 Italien - Toscana Coin coins and medals

 

[randazzo1]

This is a very cool find.

 

[tamaco]

That is a neat looking spoon. I like the figure at the handle!

 

[vpnavy]

Nice buy. Thanks for sharing...

 

[jerseyben]

Yea, that is a nice find. Congrats!

 

[Immy]

A 1989 Standard Catalog sez .916 oz (6.8760g), no mintage figures. Easily worth the price you paid. Nice find!

 

[Rascal]

Soooooo, are you going to use a rigid plastic, or a cardboard coin holder?

Nice find.

Rascal

 

[diggummup]

Nice find. I have found 2 of this type of souvenir Tuscan Florin coin spoons, both replicas. Yours appears to be an authentic coin. Value probably $25-$35 IMHO.

Italian Souvenir Spoon Replica 1856 Quattrini Cento Fiorino Coin Bowl | eBay

800 Silver Souvenir Spoon Fiorino Italy 400th Year with Aputti Holding Dolphin | eBay

BTW- It's Italian so it should be .800 silver versus sterling.

 

[diggummup]

Also the reason the tag says ca.1890 is because that is the era in which these types of souvenir spoons were popular. There wasn't much of a collector market for coins of these types in that period so instead of melting them down they were turned into a popular retail product of the times, souvenir spoons.

 

[thurmownator]

A 1989 Standard Catalog sez .916 oz (6.8760g), no mintage figures. Easily worth the price you paid. Nice find!

I agree with Immy. It appears to be the series before this one: 1 Fiorino - Leopold II - Italian states - Numista Very nice find and certainly worth the price you paid.

 

[twiasp]

Well I sent some pictures to a guy that runs a website for Souvenir Spoons, he had tons and lots of old ones. He said the spoon is real and the silver is .800 not sterling. He offered me 30 dollars + shipping. Think I should sell it for that or try my hand at Ebay with it? Only paid 5 dollars for it.

 

[diggummup]

I think that is a fair offer, He'll probably list it on his website for $50 or so and have to sit on it for months.