Coin Silver Presentation Goblet & Pitcher, ca. 1860
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GUEST:
Well, I have two pieces of coin silver, a ewer and a goblet. They came from a resale shop. Just walked in and I saw this on the end cap, and... "Oh, ooh, that's very nice." And I picked it up and put it in my cart, and then I went down an aisle and I saw the gorgeous form of this, and I got there very quickly
APPRAISER:
(laughs)
GUEST:
And picked it up and put it in my cart.
APPRAISER:
That's great.
GUEST:
Yeah. Paid $25 for the ewer, and eight for the goblet.
APPRAISER:
And they're absolutely gorgeous. Were they gleaming like this when you found them?
GUEST:
No, they were pretty gray and black.
APPRAISER:
(laughing)
GUEST:
I was-- I, I did clean them, but I figured... I hope I didn't make a mistake, but silver tarnishes in a few years, anyway.
APPRAISER:
I think you did a great job. The detail is what really struck me when I first saw them. They're incredible. You have all of the tobacco leaves here, and these were agricultural prizes, so we see in the front here, "Presented by the Kentucky State Agricultural Society and Spratt, Bourne, and Company, May 29, 1861." And then we have on the goblet... 1859. We have here on the bottom of the pitcher, the signature. It was made by William Adams of New York. And he was a very renowned silversmith. It was very common for the agricultural society to give out these tobacco awards, so we have seen them. I just am stunned by the decoration and the detail. And I would say at auction, conservatively, would be $8,000 to $10,000 for the pitcher. The collectors of Kentucky silver are very aggressive auction bidders. Now, this was made in New York. It is not Kentucky manufacture.
GUEST:
That's what I wondered, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
So that may affect the value.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
However, I do think that at an auction, with the right audience... (chuckling): You could see that value go up quite a bit. And for the goblet, it's unmarked, so we don't know who made it. It could have been Kentucky manufacture. However, without the marking, we can't prove where it was made. But I would say at auction, conservatively, in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.
GUEST:
(laughing): That's... that's a pretty good return.
APPRAISER:
I would say so. (laughing): Don't tell anyone where you go thrift shopping.
GUEST:
I will not.
APPRAISER:
(laughing)
Appraisal Details
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