Expert: Ronald Fern - 11/4/2010

Question
mr.fern,
      i was wondering if you could help me.my great grandmother gave my mother a  simmons silver issue .999 small plate.i believe they were once on a chain because it has a loop on the top of it. it says since 1873 and the numbers at the bottom are 7618090?? i have a 1 gram and a 2 gram.ive been wondering about them like what they are for and their value, tho i dont xpct to get rid of them. soo if you know anything i would enjoy to hear from you.      thank you
            sincerely,
       mary weatherly jones

Answer
Hi Weatherly:

Thanks for your question.  You may have items made to celebrate specific event during the company history. The serial numbers may be able to be traced. With silver at about $26 a troy ounce, the 1 gram .999F plate would likely have a value in the $6 to $7 range.

I'm not sure what you really have without a photo, but I was able to find some information about about the company. R.F. Simmons Company, Attleboro, MA. "Founded in 1873 by Robert Fitz Simmons, a chaser who conducted a small shop. Simmons struck up a friendship with Joseph Lyman Sweet who used to drive grain from the Sweet farm in West Mansfield to Attleboro's town sales near Simmons' shop. Simmons would tease Sweet about being a "rube" and from this banter grew a warm friendship which led Simmons to invite the younger man to learn the jewelry business."

"In 1875 Sweet, Simmons and Edgar L. Hixon formed a partnership each investing $2,500 in the new business. In 1887 the organization had grown from 8 or 10 employees to more than 200 with offices in New York and Agents in Rio de Janiero, Bueinos Aires, Montevideo, Berlin, Barcelona and Sydney. Simmons' best known product was it's watch chains but other items were soon added to its line included chatelaine pins, eye glass chains, fobs and bracelets.

It was around Simmons' 40th anniversary that it laid claim to numerous "firsts" in the industry, among them: First house to issue a chain catalogue - 1881; first to stamp goods with the manufacturer's initials for identification; first to adopt the definite and responsible guarantee of satisfaction to the wearer - 1880s; first to use a safety fastener in connection with chains and fobs in the early 1890's; first to produce a practical lock bracelet - the Marlow in 1899, etc. etc. (See Dorothy T. Rainwater's "American Jewelry Manufacturer's" for more info on Simmons.)

R.F. Simmons Company was still active in 1952. Other Simmons marks used: Armilla, Betsy Ross, Brenda, Floradora, Slident, Stubby, Tyton, Venetian, Victorian, R.F.S. & Co., R.F.S. Co., and Simmons' Chains. R F Simmons  Co., 508-222-6655, 35 County St., Attleboro, MA 02703.

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.