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Antique silver has been forged and faked for a number of years, whether to dodge duty in the early nineteenth century or to mislead an antique collecting public from the 1890's. But this spoon can technically also be called a fake. These spoons are often called Berry Spoons, and have different fruits embossed into the bowls. However for many spoons this embossing was done 50 years after they were made, as Berry Spoons became popular in early Victorian times. So any Berry Spoon with hallmarks for the late 1700's actually began life as a normal tablespoon (or in rarer cases, such as the spoon here, as teaspoons). So although it appears to be a Georgian Berry Spoon, it has been modified into that at a later date.
Is it a fake? What do you think????
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