Reed & Barton sterling flatware identification

[rotuts]

My sister has a fair number of this pattern :

 

 

some as you see are still in there plastic sealed 'bags'  so therefore new-ish

 

can anyone tell me about these ?   I did look up R&B on theGoogle, but really didn't get that far with this pattern

 

many thanks

[blue_dolphin]

Looks a little like Grande Renaissance.

http://www.replacements.com/webquote/RDSGRR.htm

[rotuts]

thank

 

Sooo   who buys this stuff ?

 

is it some sort of 'subscription'  thing ?

 

note the spoon still in the bag.

 

any help appreciated.

[MSRadell]

Replacements sells replacement pieces to people who need to fill in missing pieces of a set of China, silverware, crystal, etc. Their prices are quite high but sometimes it still the best bet if you just need a couple of pieces to finish out a set. They've also buy pieces from individuals but what they buy something from is considerably less than what they sell it for!

[kayb]

I'd probably run an ad on Craigslist. Also, if there's enough it's worth your while to do it, check out the cost of a classified in Southern Living. That's probably read by a high percentage of people who'd be in the market to fill out flatware sets.

 

Replacements is an option, but as MSRadell says, they'll take a sizeable cut.

 

[Lisa Shock]

3 hours ago, rotuts said:

thank

 

Sooo   who buys this stuff ?

 

is it some sort of 'subscription'  thing ?

 

note the spoon still in the bag.

 

any help appreciated.

 

The bag helps prevent tarnishing in storage and transit, and allows employees to handle items safely.

 

You can get an idea of real world values by checking eBay. There's a lot of silverware there. I have a pretty good collection of a pattern I like that I started at thrift stores in the 1970s and fill in with eBay purchases.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, rotuts said:

thank

 

Sooo   who buys this stuff ?

 

is it some sort of 'subscription'  thing ?

 

note the spoon still in the bag.

 

any help appreciated.

 

Much of my more or less disposable income goes to replacements.com   My dinnerware potter is long since defunct, as are my Baccarat patterns.  But I don't purchase silverware as it is not my thing.  (I did have a set of silverware in my married youth.)

[Deryn]

If you (or your sister) has a decent auction house that takes silver nearby, I would take a few pieces down to them and see if they will do a quick appraisal or at least tell you if what you have is enough to be worth auctioning. I sold quite a bit of silver a few years ago through an antique auction house in the Asheville area. One cannot of course tell exactly how much one will get till the gavel falls when disposing of it that way, mind you but if you have a pattern that enough people are often interested in buying, the auction house will be able to give you an idea of its saleability, etc. The other thing you might do is, because the flatware is silver, hold on a bit if regular silver prices are down and consider selling when it is as high as it has been for a while. The silver part is not its only value, but, it IS significant, especially if this is not a pattern that a lot of people are interested in buying - someone will buy it at auction for silver value alone (to melt down if possible).

Edited March 9, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

It would be a crying shame to melt down something like that when someone, somewhere would give a limb to have it.

[Lisa Shock]

I just researched it a bit on eBay, there are only 156 listings (which is not that many for silverware as a single pattern can have dozens items in the set) and the prices are very solid -much higher than the silver's value alone.

[andiesenji]

Back in the '40s and '50s  Reed & Barton sterling was one of the more popular silver companies, there were always ads in the "glossy" magazines and also in The New Yorker, etc.  and the flatware was a very desired wedding gift or for girls graduating from college, etc.

People gave place settings (usually 5 pieces), or serving pieces.

Service for 12 was expensive so it sometimes took a while to amass the full set.  Usually one bought a flatware box that had something in it to retard tarnishing.  

 

Autumn Leaves is a R & B sterling pattern introduced in the mid '50s and I chose that when I was engaged.  I received several place settings and a few serving pieces and later filled in the "gaps" myself.   I have 80 pieces (12 6-piece place settings plus serving pieces) and the tiered anti-tarnish chest.

Two years ago I had an insurance appraisal to bring it up to date (last was 10 years ago) and the insurance "replacement" value was $6275.  -  an auction price would be less, probably 4500. 

 

Your pattern looks like one of the "baroque" designs and is one of the "suitable for engraving" designs.  There used to be a Reed & Barton pattern PDF online that just showed drawings of the handles and made it easier to identify mystery pieces.

[Deryn]

9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

It would be a crying shame to melt down something like that when someone, somewhere would give a limb to have it.

 

I agree with you. However, sometimes a set (even if complete) is difficult to sell because it was monogrammed - which was the case with mine. I loved the silver but the set was no longer complete and could not be filled in, especially because it had not one but 3 fancy monogram letters on each one (they belonged to my grandparents). I used it for many years but finally realized that my lifestyle had changed so much it probably would never be used again in my home. I just tried to 'imagine' that the person who bought it loved it and would keep it - and that it wasn't someone who would actually melt it down.

Edited March 9, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[Jaymes]

On ‎3‎/‎8‎/‎2016 at 9:59 AM, Deryn said:

 

I agree with you. However, sometimes a set (even if complete) is difficult to sell because it was monogrammed - which was the case with mine. I loved the silver but the set was no longer complete and could not be filled in, especially because it had not one but 3 fancy monogram letters on each one (they belonged to my grandparents). I used it for many years but finally realized that my lifestyle had changed so much it probably would never be used again in my home. I just tried to 'imagine' that the person who bought it loved it and would keep it - and that it wasn't someone who would actually melt it down.

 

Maybe my sister bought it.  She's in the antique business and she loves sterling flatware sets and she buys all she can get her hands on.  She has a lot of it.  She particularly likes buying monogramed sets because they're cheaper.  And she uses them.  Like much of our family, she never lets the truth get in the way of a good story, so one of her favorite things to do is to "invent" relatives from whom she has inherited these assorted sterling sets - a dear maiden aunt that was a spy for the Allies in WWII, assorted grandparents, whatever strikes her as an entertaining tale at the time.

 

Younger folks here undoubtedly don't remember a time when nobody, absolutely nobody, had stainless steel flatware.  It was really crappy and awful.  If you couldn't afford sterling, and lots of people couldn't of course, you had silverplate.  Some of that, especially the heavily-plated "railroad silver" has become quite collectible.

 

Like most brides in the 50's and 60's, I, too, selected my silver pattern, along with the china and crystal.  I got a lot of it as wedding presents, primarily because I got married in the Philippines, and most of our relatives lived in the US.  Silver was easy to mail.  So I wound up with service for about 24.  I still have it, and use it all the time.  Love it.  A reminder of a lifestyle gone by, I guess.

 

 

Edited March 13, 2016 by Jaymes (log)

[Deryn]

Monogram I believe was HCB for my grandmother - Helen Cobb Bragdon (and if so, she may have received it for her hope chest rather than at the time of her marriage). Or it could have been for my grandmother and grandfather because her first name was Helen and his was Charles so that makes sense too. Haven't seen it for a few years so I can't remember (I should be able to but right now can't recall) if the letters were arranged as HBC overlapping or as HCB. At any rate, it was sold at auction in Asheville so conceivably I guess your sister (if I am recalling correctly that she lives not that far from there) could have purchased it. Wouldn't that be an interesting coincidence, Jaymes. If she did, I would be thrilled to relay some real family history to her sometime. I would love to know she had it - sounds ideal to me!

 

My mother who knew she would eventually give me my grandmother's silver anyway - and how much can one girl ever need? - bought me some Dansk flatware when I got married in 1967. I loved that stuff - it was not the cheap stainless at all .. had weight and simple style - and appealed to the practical side of me I guess. I had enough other sterling and plated silver dishes and platters as it was.