Skip to content
Home ยป A silver serving Fishing Knife circa late 19th Century

A silver serving Fishing Knife circa late 19th Century

What I can find it looks as if it is a fish serving knife. I know its silver but I can’t find any hallmark on it.

Description and history

This is a circa late 19th century or early 20th century Silver Fish Serving Knife. The customer tell us there is no silver hall mark. When there isn’t any silver hall mark, it is impossible to determine the manufacturer. In fact, it is even difficult to know if it is made of pure silver. It can be a good idea to perform a silver acid test, for double testing, for instance, you have a test here:

https://www.amazon.com/-/en/dp/B002C8AJDG  

There isn’t any way to know the provenance of unmarked silver, not only for this knife, but for most silver pieces. From pattern and the type of manufacturing process, we can determine the age, but nothing else. The pattern is really similar with the typical pattern found in British silversmiths of that time, probably London. 

There is a value for this knife, only if it is made of pure silver. Otherwise, sadly, there is no market for silver plated  tableware. 

Appraisal Value ($)

– 40-50$

You can see similar sold auctions here:

https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/20794425-ornate-victorian-sterling-silver-serving-butter-knife-martin-hall-co-sheffield-1881

https://www.etsy.com/es/listing/538418943/serving-fish-knife-fork-set-de-potosi

How to sell it

As this object is made from precious metals, some precautions are needed to sell it. Safety first, if you sell it directly to an individual, make sure you meet the potential buyer at a public place, for instance, a coffee shop. If you ship the object, please, make sure to use a fully-insured shipment method and specifically declare the value of the shipment goods in the forms. The increased insurance fee is an investment and most likely, mandatory all the time. If you have any doubt about the buyer, I would recommend to inmediatly decline the sale. It is really easy to sell this item, so it isn’t worth taking excessive risks.

To sell the items, I would recommend doing so through the internet. You have plenty of options, for instance:

– Ebay, Craiglist, Etsy, Facebook ads, Amazon marktplace

I would probably go ahead and take a couple of good pictures, like described here:

https://www.channelreply.com/blog/view/how-to-take-photos-for-ebay

Then I would use the provided description as a text to the ad, and an attractive ad title will make it.

There isn’t any special difference between selling it on Etsy, FB or Amazon. I would recommend to upload the same ad to at least two or three platforms. It will ensure a high visibility of the ad.

The asking price can be close to the value, it depends upon how fast you want to sell. In general, an agressive strategy of 20% price cut will work great, however it depends upon your specific location.

About the valuation method

To value this item I have considered the results from past auction sales. Keep in mind that the final price can be different from asking prices that you can find on the internet. You can see ads on the internet with different asking prices. However, a very high asking price doesn’t normally find cash from a buyer. 

That’s why our method comprises searching and comparing similar past sale results that had a buyer. That’s why we can provide an accurate estimation of this item.

5 thoughts on “A silver serving Fishing Knife circa late 19th Century”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *