Q: I bought a silver tray at a house. This is one of the marks on it. Can you tell me anything about it?A: This eagle mark is a standard mark used by the city of Lisbon, Portugal, from 1938 until 1985. The number "916" indicates the fineness of the silver, the standard for sterling silver in Portugal at that time. Silver is alloyed with another metal, usually copper, to give it strength; the number indicates the percentage of silver (916 parts per 1,000). The standard is different in different countries. This mark was used on large pieces of silver. Smaller pieces were marked with the head of a rooster and the fineness number.
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I've never gotten a definitive answer on this. As far as I have found 925 is the only STERLING standard around the world and has been for centuries. The other standards were SILVER standards like 900 is the minimum that the FTC allows to be called silver but has to be called Coin Silver.
Is there any where that I can find info on this?
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