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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 8249866, member: 85693&quot;]Interesting piece.&nbsp; These sorts of things are hard to evaluate as there&#039;s no &quot;official&quot; template to determine authenticity, as with coins.&nbsp; Hallmarks can be a useful clue to figuring this stuff out, but a lot of old silver lacks such marks.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>It reminds of a rather spectacular deal on eBay from a few years ago, a Scottish Sterling Silver Quaich made by Wilson &amp; Sharp, Edinburgh in 1900, mounted with a 1668 English silver sixpence of Charles II.&nbsp; Here&#039;s how I wrote it up for my records, since the seller&#039;s description was a bit bungled:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>eBay Title:</b> 1668 French Coin - Carolus II Serves As Bottom Of A Cup</p><p><b>Date Auction Ended</b>: May 08, 2016 , 9:20PM</p><p><b>Closing Price:</b>&nbsp; $ 10.51</p><p><b>eBay Description:</b>&nbsp; &quot;Please look carefully at this item as I am not quite sure how to describe it.&nbsp; There is a well worn French coin acting as the bottom this cup that has some touchmarks but none that I am aware of, ie. I do not believe that the cup is sterling but it is likely that the coin is real. The touchmark for the maker is &quot;W &amp; L&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>My Description:</b>&nbsp; This is a Scottish quaich, a drinking vessel, made by Wilson &amp; Sharp in Edinburgh in 1900.&nbsp; It is sterling silver.&nbsp; The coin is an English sixpence of King Charles II dated 1668.&nbsp;&nbsp; The maker mark is a &quot;W &amp; S.&quot;&nbsp; The hallmarks are as follows:&nbsp; thistle silver standard mark (indicates .925 sterling silver); castle (indicates Edinburgh manufacture) and a Gothic &quot;t&quot; (indicates 1900 manufacture date). </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1453155[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1453149[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1453152[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1453153[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1453154[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>As I know nothing about Scottish drinking vessels, silver doo-dads, hallmarks, etc., so it took some digging to figure this out.&nbsp; There&#039;s a lot of information on the Internet about such things, but it took some digging.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I am ashamed to admit I have yet to drink a wee dram from the thing yet.&nbsp; According to my latest DNA results, I&#039;m 32% Scottish (and 34% Irish, so drinking comes naturally to me).&nbsp; Someday, someday...<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie53" alt=":hungover:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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