Collectibles--General (Modern)/all about thimbles

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Expert: - 9/13/2006


Question
Hello,   I would like to know more about thimbles and the collection of them.  Also, just what are the assay  marks, how are they dated,
and what are collectables.  
Please email me

Thanks   Claud

Answer
Hello Claud,

Thank you for your questions.  One of the best places to learn about thimbles as far as what the values of thimbles would be to visit eBay on the internet.  Do a search on the word THIMBLES.  It also has the thimbles broken down into catagories, such as gold, silver and porcelain.  You must be from England.  The typical British hallmarks are: the maker's mark, the assay mark, the standard mark and the date letter.  The maker's mark is the silversmith that made the thimble. The assay mark indicates the office where the article was tested and marked.  The assay marks you see most often on thimbles are Birmingham and Chester.  There are currently four active assay offices in Great Britain: Birmingham, London, Sheffield and Edinburgh.  The Standard mark indicates precious metal content of an article.  The letter mark indicates the year the item was hallmarked.  There are books on English marks that will help you date your thimbles.  If you go to eBay and look at all the different thimbles, you will see what thimbles receive bids and which ones do not.  That is one way to tell what is collectable and which ones are not.  I am sure people bid on what they like and that is what makes a thimble collectable.  I do hope this helps.  Thanks,

Wynneth

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Wynneth Mullins

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I am a digitabulist - a thimble collector. I have been collecting thimbles since 1976 and have my own newsletter called Thimble Guild. I started a local thimble collectors group, Thimbles Are Us, in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in 1985. I was Second Vice-President of Thimble Collectors International from 1988 - 1992. I have been a guest speaker on thimbles at local collectors groups, womens groups and churches. I am knowledgable about sterling and gold thimbles made in the US as well as England, Germany, France, Russia, Norway and a few other countries. I am familiar with manufacturer`s marks and codes, assay marks and date marks and other unique marks meaningful to any thimble collector. I am knowledgeable of porcelain, china, brass, pewter, bronze, aluminum, plastic, silver plated, coin and base metal thimble marks. Some questions I might be asked...what makes a thimble valuable (scarce maker, desirable pattern, commemorative, etc.)...where can I find more information on thimbles... are there collectors groups out there...is there a newsletter for collectors...what books are available on the subject? I am very happy to share my knowledge with anyone but will not make appraisals. To do that, you must be able to look at the thimble in person. I have a friend that has a saying, A knowledgable collector is a wise collector. She is a wise collector. In 1992, at the TCI Convention in San Diego, CA, I was given the highest honor in the thimble collecting community. It is called the Myrtle Lundquist Award. It reads, Lundquist Award - Compassion - Caring - Sharing - Awarded to Wynneth Mullins 1992. This award gives me a lot to live up to!

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