British Sterling Tea Service hallmark

Greetings.

I have a tea serving set of platter and service. It is British and
made by Noah Rhodes & Son. Each piece has a mark on the bottom: Rd
96760. My question is What does the registration mean? Is there a
way to estimate the age of set?

Thanks for any response

Mike

Sponsor’s Mark - initials of the maker
Assay Office Mark - e.g. Leopard’s head, anchor
Fineness Mark - e.g. 925 and/or a lion
Date letter - this could be upper or lower case, script (italic),
gothic or plain

Some pieces have other marks as well, depending on age, such as a
duty mark or a commemorative mark.

Pat

Your number would date the set as having been made in 1888.

Hope this helps,
Dorothy

Dorothy and Pat,

Thanks for the responses. There is an image pressed into the bottom
of the pieces–a bell. Dorthy, how does the number 96760 translate
to 1888. My Dad gave me the service and he will ask me.

Mike

 Each piece has a mark on the bottom:  Rd 96760.  My question is
What does the registration mean?  Is there a way to estimate the
age of set? 

Hi Mike,

The Rd mark just means that the design of the tea set was registered

  • like a design copywrite. It should be possible to look this up but
    it won’t tell you when the piece was made. For that you need to look
    at the hallmark which should be on each piece of the set - and
    separately on the body and lid of the teapot. You can find lists of
    these hallmarks on books or on the web - have a look at
    http://www.bhi.co.uk/hints/hmarks.htm. This will tell you exactly
    when the pieces were made.

Best Wishes,
Ian
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the info. The registration comes back as 1888. I’m not
sure about a hallmark. Two of the pieces have a bell stamped on
thebottom. Two have a square with fine diagonal lines. I haven’t
found similar hallmarks on any related sites. Also, there was small
hand engraved written script on the bottoms, but they have been
nearly buffed away. There were no visible hallmarks on the underside
of any of the hinged lids.

My Dad should be satisfied with the registraation date.

Mike

    Thanks for the info. The registration comes back as 1888. I'm
not sure about a hallmark. Two of the pieces have a bell stamped on
thebottom. Two have a square with fine diagonal lines. 

I don’t know about the bell mark, but the fine diagonal lines are a
town mark for Sheffield ( they represent a sheaf of arrows and are
part of the city’s coat of arms). This mark was not put on
silverware, but is common on EPNS and pewter.

Bill Bedford

“EPNS” really means “Electro-Plated Nickle Silver” or plating on a
base metal…

Gerry!, originally from London England, circa 1943!!..:>)