HENRY HARPER SILVER TWISTED BUTTER KNIFE
For your consideration is this coin silver right angle or twisted master butter knife with "Henry Harper" and "Coin" on the underside of the handle. Length is approximately 7.5". Good condition with some scratches and nicks from age and use. An interesting thing to note is that Henry Harper was a Titanic survivor. He, his wife, his friend and their Pekinese were in Lifeboat 3!
NOTE:
In Colonial America, silversmiths decided to forge their own silverware and goods to avoid patronizing British purveyors of sterling silver. They collected useless European coins, mainly Spanish reales and melted them down. Because coins were an alloy of metals, their silver content was lower than that of sterling, only 90 percent. America did not adopt the Sterling standard until 1870. Coin silver was made in the United States from the earliest colonial times until just after the Civil War.