On Thu, 28 Oct 2004 23:45:22 -0700, in ¸õ Jack Schmidling wrote:

But back to the bacic qustion that started it all....

What does 12 DWT mean as part of a hallmark of plated silver.

Well, that's the 64 dollar question, Jack. The trouble is, so far as I know, such a
marking has no standard meaning as part of a hallmark, or if it does, non of my
references mentions such a marking. That means it's a mark peculiar perhaps to that
manufacturer. Just what it means could be anyone's guess. The basic meaning of the
term is easy enough. DWT means pennyweight, and 12 pennyweight is 12/20ths of an
ounce. That too, means little, since it's not a particularly standard proportion
for much of anything that I know of. While it might have been some mark used by more
than one manufacturer, it does not appear to be a part of any standardized or legal
framework marking system that I can discern. Much the same as an object marked in a
certain number of grams, so far as it's literal meaning, but there is nothing in that
mark that gives it further meaning. As an example of what might mean more, in gold
filled items, one often sees markings like 1/20 12K gold filled. That indicates that
1/20th of the item, usually by weight, consists of 12K gold in the form of a surface
bonded layer on either one or both sides. The mark doesn't detail that the gold is a
surface layer, it just detals the percentage of the whole, and the quality of that
percentage. One needs to know that it refers to that surface layer. Your marking
may have some similar meaning, but unlike that gold filled marking, this one doesn't
seem to be standard enough to have deserved a note in the references I've got, and
since the mark doesn't say 12 dwt of what, or per what other unit, such as dozen
items, or pound of items, etc, then who knows what it means.

I'd suggest not spending more time on that mark, but rather spend it trying to figure
out what you've actually got. If you find a small notch or groove, perhaps damage of
some sort that cuts into or better, through, the surface of silver to what's
underneath, then applications of various acids to that notch and observing the
reactions thereto, can give you an idea of what you've actually got. If there is no
existing such notch, a small file can produce one. Be sure you don't mind the damage
this causes, before you do it.

The other option might be holding off until you are somewhere where you might have
access to a knowledgeable antiques dealer, who might know on sight, what it is.
Easier to evaluate the thing when it's in your hand, than when it's described in a
news message...

cheers

Peter