Identifying an Old Silver Bracelet?

Pghgirl40
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June 14, 20180 found this helpful

This is a lovely piece!

My first go to when trying to figure out silver is to take a magnet to it. Typically (but not always) the magnet does not stick, it COULD be silver. If the magnet sticks, it is usually (NOT ALWAYS, but USUALLY) NOT silver. Could be plated.

There is some info online about Dutch silver markings, but they all seem to be symbols, so that doesn't help

www.925-1000.com/Fnetherlands_Date_Code.html

It is hard to tell from the top pix if this is the front or back of the piece. There is a bracelet that sold online in 2015 for $73 that looks similar auction.catawiki.com/.../1189445-antique-19th-century-silver...

If that matches, that may give you some info.

That said...if you are valuing it to sell for wearing, you may want to take it to a reputable antique store that specializes in jewelry and get a bid. They will generally give you 1/8 to 1/4 retail value...meaning what they would sell it for.

If you want to sell it for scrap, you can go to a reputable place...I only use Treasure Hunt, and they will give you the value based on weight and silver value for the week. Last I looked silver was low...so you may not get as much as you would like.

If you want info for insurance...once you find if it is silver or not, you can talk to your agent about how to cover it for replacement value if lost or damaged. I am thinking it would fit into your regular coverage vs. a special rider, but they are the experts.

Thanks for sharing the photo! It is really neat!

Judy
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June 14, 20180 found this helpful

Usually silver has 925 stamped on it, but if this is an old piece and from Holland, maybe that stamp is the purity of the silver. Real silver has a sweet taste. Many people dont know that test.

cybergrannie
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June 15, 20180 found this helpful

This is certainly an interesting bracelet - very pretty and it is probably "one of a kind" so would be difficult to identify unless you had a lot of knowledge in this field.

• I think Judy is right and the numbers probably mean something about the purity of the silver.
• Did your mother usually buy expensive jewelry or did she just buy pieces that she thought were pretty?
• I ask this because it may give you some idea as to the value. But from your posting, it appears that you have never seen her wearing it? So maybe she just bought it on a whim and it did not mean very much to her.
• You mentioned Holland and I wondered where that inclination came from as the numbering does not seem to be a good reason for it to be a Dutch piece.
• I am a strong believer in getting appraisals of pieces like this as opinions from a true expert in this field can supply all kinds of information.
• Many pieces like this were made from a "pattern" but were actually handcrafted so that would make them "one of a kind" pieces.
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• We are fortunate that so much is available over the Internet and there are several sites that offer free appraisals so why not take advantage of this knowledge?
• Here are some sites that I have used and generally their information is very good. I usually have several sites do an appraisal so I can compare the information supplied. You will need a couple more pictures and they should be close-up and measurements should be supplied also.
• An appraisal is always a good thing to have for insurance purposes as well as a very good "selling" tool as potential buyers really like seeing an official appraisal.
• antiques.lovetoknow.com/Free_Antique_Appraisals_Online
• Barneby's is a well known name but their appraisals cost $17.
• www.barnebys.com/.../