Jewelry Pearls

The history of silver in America begins in Boston in the early seventeenth century. There were many laws governing silver making in America, but the silversmiths were not as rigidly controlled as in England. However, a smith working alone could not use his mark until he was twenty-one. It is good to report that few smiths were ever in trouble with the law! There were no banks or bank vaults in 17th century America. The silversmith was respected, he handled his neighbors’ wealth and was trusted implicitly. During this period it was difficult to hide money, so it was safer to have silver coins melted and made into a large teapot than to try to hide a box of coins under the mattress! A teapot or silver piece, unique in design and monogrammed, was almost impossible for a thief to dispose of.

As the years passed, American silver followed style trends. Colonial to Classical, Federal and Empire, then to Victorian and magnificent silverware was created by our craftsmen. Some of the finest examples were made from melted coins and the content was almost the same as sterling. The English used the terms Silver or Silver Standard (Sterling), but in America, Coin, Dollar, or Standard were more commonly applied to silverware. The term Pure Coin, Warranted Pure Coin, or Warranted, had to be used on solid silver pieces when silver-plating became popular in approximately 1803. Later, the word Sterling was adopted and is still stamped on silverware, and indicates the piece is .925 per cent pure silver.
By 1840, silverware in

America was being made by machine, and the great age of handcrafted silver was ending.

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