Date marks were used on Hollow Ware, not flatware. Marks on flatware like H, T & M are not date marks.  Often looking at the pattern and changes in it are the best way to determine the age. Scroll lower on this page to learn more about the changes in the stamping dies used to make Stieff Rose.

The symbol for 1928  is

and has no connections to the swastika used by the Nazis. This is an ancient symbol that had been in use for thousands of years before being corrupted by the Nazis. It  used to mean good luck  and happiness.

Here is an example, look close under the 12A

THE H, M & T Marks

Some Stieff flatware can be found with letters on the back. These are H, M & T  and are found on the base of the handle, on the back.  These are not date marks, Stieff flatware was not marked by date like the hollow ware was.

In the mid 1930’s the T was used to denote a lighter weight silver product called TRADE WEIGHT. Traditionally in the silver industry Trade weight is used to mark pieces that were used in “the trade” meaning restaurants and tea rooms. Obviously these would have been high end establishments to be using sterling silver. Stieff offered these pieces not to the trade, but to the public in order to increase sales. The depression was on and in the early years of the depression felt it best to cut back on expenses. These pieces seem limited to tea spoons in the Rose, Homewood, Corsage, Clinton, Puritan and Betsy Patterson “Plain” patterns.

In the early 1920s an extra heavy weight was offered, but I have never seen an example of these marks.

Also a M was marked on some pieces to note the weight as Medium.

The H represented the HEAVY weight silver. The sale of heavy pieces really came to a trickle in the depression.

The October 1941 price guide shows Trade weight and medium weight spoons still available.

Some flatware has marks that so far are not identifiable. Some pieces have a B, C or D marked just behind the Stieff name. Note too, that there is a period just behind the Stieff name.

Another ODD mark

The G in REG appears to be upside down.  Who was doing QA at the Stieff factory?

The Stieff’s have no information on these marks.

In a recent conversation with Charles C. Stieff II I asked him about the REG. stamp on the back of the certain pieces. He says that Stieff registered their patterns and those wares were marked REG.  It was once thought that the REG was a mark for “Regular weight” but Mr. Stieff says that he is not aware of such stampings. The REG appears on silver flatware made in the later 1920’s and into the later 1930s.

When CORSAGE was first introduced there was a PAT.PEND stamped behind the words STERLING-STIEFF  This was because Stieff had taken

out a patent on the Corsage design. This was later shortened to

STERLING-STIEFF-PAT.

Early Hallmarks

The Sterling Silver Manufacturing Company was created by Charles C. Stieff and a partner in 1892. This was later changed to the Baltimore Sterling Silver Company. When Stieff took over the company in 1904, he changed it’s name to The Stieff Company. Here is what the Marks look like for them. Note the Crown, as early Stieff pieces continued with the Crown and S mark.

Some pieces that were made before the BSSCo mark was used are still out there, but becoming fairly expensive. These pieces might have been sold in the  retail store at 17 N. Liberty or sold to other retailers to sell in their stores. Some of these pieces will carry the name of retailers stamped into the back of the handle. This was an early form of private labeling.

  

The mark below of B.S.S.Co. is from the Online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks and Makers Marks

A Spoon with the Crown Mark & B and the 925/1000 mark

Note the crowns are FAT crowns..not narrow crowns

Crown mark with the STIEFF name.

Another silver company was also using a Crown B mark around the turn of the century, but for the life of me, I do not recall what company that was.  I will update this as soon as I can find that information. The Crown mark used was thin 4 pointed crown and the B is followed by a period.

Above are NOT the marks of Balt. Sterling Silver Co.

Below is how the Crown Mark was being used by Stieff

1921 on an individual salt cellar.

From the guard on a Carving Knife w/a carbon blade

Here is the mark on a 1918 hairbrush

reddish brown X mark is actually bristles on the brush that are bent over.

A Mirror from 1918

    

In the 1950’s the pattern made major changes again... and mostly for the last time as the dies were being used less and less. The center rose has flattened out. The top leaf on the upper edge has become more inverted. To the left of the top leaf, what were leaves have become what looks like a puckered rose bud. The daisy has developed broader leaves that have small bumps under the tips. All in all a bit less silver is used here in an effort to modernize the look and reduce weight which is reflected in cost. This basic pattern, with subtle changes was used from about 1950 thru 1990. Eventually in the 1980s-1990s the center rose morphed into more of a cabbage rose. The 1950’s also brings us the PAT. mark on the back of the handle. PAT meaning Patented.

 

Photo and wording below from John Lilly at www.silvermatchingco.com

Click below for:

The Stieff Company marked ENGLAND ???

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I am always looking for feedback on this site. It was created on Feb. 5, 2009

The piece below is an example of an UPDATED date mark. If a piece was damaged, you could return the item to the Stieff factory to be refurbished.

New mirrors could be installed or the bristles of a brush replaced. In the example below.. this brush was refurbished in 1939. The  STERLING 925 mark was worn and it was re-stamped with a Stieff Sterling D.

The date mark for 1939 is D

So, if the date mark appears to be an “Overstrike” on top of an older marking... the piece most likely was reworked at some point and the newer mark is not reflective of the true age of the piece.

In the Rare and Seldom seen section of this site, I have a shoe horn with an A (1936) overstrike. Perhaps it had become bent and returned to the factory to be reshaped

How to tell the age of your

Stieff Rose Sterling Silverware

In the manufacture of silver, dies stamp out the rough forms and the patterns. As years go by those dies wear out. Stieff insisted on quality products and did not let the dies become dull.  You can not sharpen a die...

a whole new die has to be cut.. an expensive and time consuming task. Because for most of it’s history, Stieff used a different die for each piece and not just attached a common handle to the end of a utensil, many pieces in a set can have a slightly different look and feel, all depending on what “die cycle” those pieces were made. Depending on the piece, the handle can be longer or wider than other pieces. Also, the pattern is larger on some and smaller on others. This is especially true in the flagship of the company, Stieff Rose, where the pattern morphed many times over the years.

The Stieff Company started as the Baltimore Sterling Silver Manufacturing Company, and then shortly thereafter changed to Baltimore Sterling Silver Company (BSSCo.)  In those early years the silver was sometimes NOT marked with the BSSCo. hallmark of the Crown with a B under it.

Charles Stieff other business was called  H.M. Justice & Co. and was a “jobber” or wholesaler of products from silver, silver platers and cutlery companies. Charles Stieff’s own products would have been in those lines

too, being sold to other companies to retail as their own.

A company would be sold a line of goods to be produced by one of the many companies that Stieff represented, and that retailer could have their name stamped on the product. (or do the stamping themselves in house) BSSCo. was creating silver for its own market in Baltimore but also for retailers who could stamp their name onto the pieces. Because of this, many of the early pieces are stamped STERLING, but nothing else. Others have Sterling and the Crown ‘B” mark. Below is an example of two early pieces.

These pieces are in the Maryland Rose (later called ROSE) pattern and are Pre-Stieff (1904). The top leaf of the pattern cants a bit to the left. Note that in these early pieces the practice of having a separate die for each and every piece has not begun. I have examined these two pieces in great detail and the handles were made from the same die.

Above & below pieces are from my personal collection

In the late 20’s to early 30’s new dies were cut all around and the leaf would revert back

to the left curving leaf. These pieces are all stamped STERLING-STIEFF

In later pieces (1904-1930ish) the center leaf at the top of the handle curves gently to the right and have a small nib that seems to protrude over the edge of the handle..ever so slightly. (see the three photos below) The center rose is more open and has a round center. To the right and just above is a second rose that seems to have a open mouth that points toward the upper right.  To the left of this rose and at the top left of the center rose, the flower looks like an open daisy. This form seems to continue up through the late 1920‘s and into the early 1930’s, all depending on when the dies would start to wear out.

 

The spoon on the top left is an early Stieff Maryland Rose example. The back is marked

STERLING 925 (The Stieff Crown) Stieff

It is very rare to find the STIEFF CROWN on flatware

Notice that the STIEFF name is hand stamped into the back at this point. This is an example of a die used in the Pre-Stieff days. The STIEFF name could have been left off and a retailers name stamped in it’s place.

In the early 1930s  the pattern made a major change as a lot of new dies were made. The upper range of leaves have all canted to the left. (this cant to the left started in the later 1920‘s) The center rose has more rounded edges and the upper two petals of the rose seem more like “BB’s”. The daisy has thicker leaves. and the upper right rose has shifted it mouth down more to the right. Flourishes sprout from under the center rose. The backs of the silver are stamped...STERLING-STIEFF REG. The REG means Registered. This pattern form was used from the early 1930’s and into the 1940s. There is of course some overlap in patterning as dies did not all wear out at the same time. Examples posted below.

(When CORSAGE appears in 1935 it  comes with a PAT pend and later a PAT stamped into the back of the handle)

Date Marks on Hollow Wares

Over the years several different hallmarks were used.

Top left, this piece engraved on front with the date 1899

Some early pieces have the Crown B mark, but not the BSSCO stamping

Below, a 1900 Chocolate Pot.

Note the stamp J.E. Caldwell  & Co. (Philadelphia retailer)

Baltimore Sterling Silver Company 1892-1900

Marked as J.E. Caldwell & Co., a retailer in Baltimore and Philadelphia that BSSCo made silver for as a “private label”.

These un-date marked pieces putting them in the 1892-1899 range.

BSSCo. started marking silver in 1901 with a date mark 

is the mark for 1901.

With the change to The Stieff Company name in June 1904, the

Crown B mark became... a Crown S mark.

The Crown S mark is dropped about 1930 I have seen examples of 1930 & 31 hollow ware with no crown mark nor the new mark.

1930 Salt with no Crown Markings

Sometime during 1929 Stieff started using a square with an S inside as the hallmark. This lasted up to the 1950’s

1953 is the latest that I have seen. Oddly, Not all pieces were marked in this way,

so you will see pieces made in this span of time with out them.

A crude hand cut 1929 mark with the new S in a square mark

from a pair of console candlestick holders.

    1948                         1941                               1931                           1940

1943                                       1947                                      1938

1930                                1946                                         1952

1953                                                            1932

The vast majority of the Diamond S marks that I have seen appear on the 0801

Goblet for some reason.

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