About Michelle Lieberman Expertise My expertise is in the area of American sterling silver and coin silver flatware and holloware, including identifying silversmiths and makers, types and patterns of flatware and their usage. I am unable to answer questions pertaining to silverplate or foreign silver.
Experience With over 25 years experience in selling vintage silver, I now devote much of my time educating others in this field.
Education/Credentials BA California State University Los Angeles
Question I recently acquired a serving fork with a floral pattern which is marked only "Lewis&VanSickle." There are no other markings of any kind. From your previous answers, I know that this company operated in Oskaloosa, IA, about the turn of the century. I picked up the piece because I thought it was coin silver; is that likely, absent any other information?
Answer Hello Andrew.
Yes, I would doubt your fork is coin silver. First off, by the late 1850's after the rise of silverplating, most coin silver is marked some way to indicate its content (coin, standard, dollars, etc.) The use of coin silver began falling out of favor in the late 1860's with sterling being the preferred grade, and by the early 1880's the use of coin silver had pretty much stopped.
The lack of a mark of silver content and the fact Lewis & Van Sickle were in business well after the switch to sterling indicates your fork is probably silverplated.
