[About the mark 12DWT=Denver Bill;879261]12 DWT is the weight of the pure silver electroplated on an entire silver flatware set (typically 48 pieces) giving an average silver coating of .25 dwt (.39 gram)for each piece. They cannot stamp each piece ".25dwt" because butter knife may be only .10dwt, while a tablespoon may be as much as .45 dwt. The fact that 12 dwt (60% of a troy ounce) is used is a very heavy plating and worth stamping to show the quality. It is easy to measure the exact silver used during the plating process, as a chunk of silver of known weight is attached to the cathode, and the anode is attached to the suspended silver pieces in the electroplating solution. The silver molecules are torn off the silver cathode and deposited on the silverware. the plating continues until 12dwt of silver has been lost from the cathode and accumulated on the silverware, typically over many hours of time, rotation, and agitation. At today's price of $37 per ounce, 12dwt is worth $22. Remember this is the silver on the entire set. A set of this quality should last many years and withstand many polishings.[/About 12DWT mark on silver]