Photo Credit: stvsedona
Antique French Silver Creamer
Buy It Now Price: $250 (price as of 2017; item no longer available)
Pros:
-Here is a lovely and functional antique French silver creamer from the late 19th or early 20th century. It is adorned with playful bright-cut engravings of flowers, birds and insects and sits on three beautifully scalloped feet. As an added bonus, the interior is fully gilt.
-This antique French silver creamer weighs approximately 3.8 troy ounces (118 grams) and measures 4 inches (10.2 cm) tall by 4.125 inches (10.5 cm) long.
-This French silver creamer carries the Minerva hallmark, indicating it is French first quality silver. This means it is .950 fine or 95% silver, which is slightly more pure than sterling silver at 92.5% fine.
-Antique silver creamers, also known as milk jugs, were usually used to dispense milk for coffee or tea during formal occasions. However, they work just as well in the modern home in the middle of the breakfast table. There is no experience quite like pouring the milk for your bowl of cereal from a stately solid silver vessel.
-Silver was a favorite material for the wealthy and aristocracy before World War II. As a precious material, silver tableware strongly suggested that a family enjoyed both high social status and prosperity.
-Silver also possesses very effective bactericidal properties, quickly killing many dangerous microbes on contact. This makes it an ideal material for use in silverware and hollowware, which frequently come into contact with food. This is where the old saying, “born with a silver spoon in his mouth” originated.
–Antique Continental European silver is extremely undervalued right now. This fact, coupled with our antique French silver creamer’s attractive, timeless design makes the $250 asking price fair in my opinion.
Cons:
-The hallmarks on this French silver creamer have been worn down by years of polishing. Because of this, it is impossible to identify the maker of this piece or exactly when it was made. The piece would be marginally more desirable if its maker was known.
-You are paying a significant premium for this creamer over its silver melt value. With spot silver currently trading at $16.83, it contains about $60.75 in silver. The buy it now price of $250 represents a substantial 311% premium over the item’s melt value. This is actually fairly normal for high quality antique silver, however.
