Antique Battleship Maine commemorative spoon

This is an antique 4-1/4" long silver plated spoon commemorating the sinking of the Battleship Maine. Embossed in the bowl is a very detailed depiction of the ship, presumably in Havana Harbor. Above are the words “ U.S. Battleship Maine”, and below, “Blown up in Havana Harbor Feb. 15, 1898". At the top of the handle is a beaded oval with the bust of “Captain Sigsbee” and his name underneath. Under that is a shield and an anchor, below which the spoon stem has a rope design extending to the bowl. The back of the stem is marked “Quaker Valley Mfg. Co.”  This delicate little spoon is old enough that it’s losing its silver plating and the underlying metal shows through in many places, giving a lovely overall appearance of coppery gilding on the designs and around the rim. We have made no attempt to clean or polish the spoon, leaving that to your discretion, since it is very thin. Considering its age, it’s in good condition. It looks old, of course, and fragile, but has no dents or dings except for four tiny fleabite pits on the back side of the spoon bowl, undoubtedly from being displayed for many decades. (Click on picture for more images.) Tell a friend.

Price: $78.00 includes s/h to anywhere in the U.S. (buyer pays insurance)

  only 1 available

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Antique Alfonso XII commemorative spoon

This antique coin silver spoon is dated 1883 and commemorates Alfonso XII of Spain. The following short history of Alfonso is synthesized from several online sources:

Alfonso XII, November 28, 1857–November 25, 1885, was king of Spain, reigning from 1875 to 1885, after a coup restored the monarchy and ended the First Spanish Republic. When Queen Isabella, his mother, and her husband had been forced to leave Spain during the revolution of 1868, Alfonso accompanied them to Paris, where his mother abdicated in his favor in 1870 in the presence of a number of Spanish nobles who had followed the fortunes of the exiled queen. He assumed the title of Alfonso XII; for although no king of united Spain had previously borne the name, the Spanish monarchy was regarded as continuous with the more ancient monarchy, represented by the eleven kings of León and Castile also named Alfonso. In 1875, the young king returned to Spain, where he was greeted with acclamation, and in 1876 he participated in the vigorous military campaign against the Carlists (pretenders to the throne) that ended their power and established the constitutional monarchy.

This wonderful little coin silver spoon is 4-1/4" long and has the shape of a tiny ladle or jelly spoon. Its shallow 1-5/16" diameter bowl features a highly detailed profile of Alfonso XII, surrounded by “Alfonso XII - 1883 - Por La G. De Dios” (meaning “by the grace of God”), which wording comes from Spain’s 1876 Constitution (“Don Alfonso XII, by the grace of God constitutional King of Spain”). The stem is diagonally incised, resulting in a rope appearance, and the top is very ornate filigree. Superb condition considering its age. We cleaned it up a little to see if there was any marking on the back (there isn’t), but didn’t scrub off the patina that emphasizes all the detail work. No dents or dings. This is a remarkable piece of Spanish history that’s also beautiful enough to be a prized collectible even if you’re not a history buff! (Click on picture for more images.) Tell a friend.

Price: $78.00 includes s/h to anywhere in the U.S. (buyer pays insurance)

  only 1 available

Kansas City New Convention Hall sterling silver collector spoon

This is an antique sterling silver collector spoon commemorating the New Convention Hall in Kansas City. And why, you ask, would a convention hall deserve its own commemorative spoon – in sterling silver, no less? Well, let me tell you, there’s one heck of a story connected with this particular convention hall. Kansas City’s original convention hall, built in anticipation of hosting the 1900 Democratic National Convention, opened in February of 1899. But alas, on April 4, 1900, just three months before the convention, the building burned to the ground! The local citizenry came together in an extraordinary display of financial contributions and manpower to meet the impossible deadline of building a new convention hall in 90 days flat! Construction crews worked ’round the clock, and all that hard work paid off when the Democrats came to town and held their National Convention right on schedule in the brand new “New Convention Hall,” proving the truth of “Everything’s Up To Date in Kansas City,” as immortalized in the song from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 1943 Broadway musical “Oklahoma!”

The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan as their party’s presidential candidate to run against the incumbent Republican president William McKinley, who had beaten Bryan in the presidential election of 1896. McKinley won this election, too, but was shot on September 6, 1901, while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. He died on September 14, 1901, succeeded to the presidency by Theodore Roosevelt.

As an aside, the 1900 Kansas City convention was the first one ever attended by Harry Truman, a high school student at the time, whose father John Truman and his friends, all local Democratic leaders, helped Harry get a job as a page at the convention. 45 years later, Harry S. Truman (The Man From Independence) became America’s 33rd president at the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945.

The New Convention Hall (at one point painted red!) continued to serve Kansas City until it was razed in 1937, two years after the completion of Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium, which is still in use today.

This 5-1/8" sterling silver collector spoon depicts a very detailed New Convention Hall in its bowl, with “Kansas City” above and “New Convention Hall” below. The long elegantly scalloped stem is beaded on both edges and topped with a decidedly Art Nouveau “finial,” not surprising considering that Art Nouveau was all the rage at the turn of the 20th Century, plus the fact that this spoon was made by Alvin Manufacturing Company, a prominent silver company famous for its sterling silver Art Nouveau flatware and hollowware. The stem back carries the earliest of Alvin’s three silver marks (an A with an eagle on the left and an anchor on the right) and is also stamped “Patent” and “Sterling.” Founded in 1886 as the Alvin Manufacturing Company of Irvington, NJ, the company moved to Providence, RI, in 1919, later changing its name to Alvin Silver Company. It was ultimately purchased by Gorham in 1928, who changed its name to Alvin Corporation, which is still a division of Gorham today.

This beautiful 109-year-old sterling silver spoon is in exceptional condition with no dents, dings, or any damage whatsoever. It looks as new as the day it was minted in 1900! (Click on picture for more images.) Tell a friend.

Price: $85.00 includes s/h to anywhere in the U.S. (buyer pays insurance)

  only 1 available