My father was given a silver box by the President of Indonesia, President Sukarno when he came to visit the United Nations and was staying at the Waldorf Astoria in 1960. The box is very intricate. It is silver on the outside and wood on the inside. The bottom has leaf symbol and inside the symbol it says, PCN 850. My dad thinks its silver because it’s heavy. Does anyone know if 850 PCN is some kind of sterling silver? or is it plated? I wouldn’t even know how to list this. Do you think it may be worth something? It measures 9 1/2 inches across and 6 inches wide and 2 1/4 inches deep. It is very detailed. I tried cleaning it with silver cleaner but it’s hard to get into the detailing.
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the_seller_inc Reputation: 616 See the_seller_inc's booth |
Do not try to clean it with silver polish anymore! you will get what dealers call a “halo”. Halo is not very desirable, tarnish is better. As for the box, without seeing it, i could not give you a exact idea of what it would be worth, but i am willing to make an educated guess that the artistic and collectable value is going to be substantially more than the scrap value of the silver. Presidential gifts are rarely base metals, so you are likely correct that it is silver. Post a picture of the box, and the hallmark and i am sure you can get better information.
edit after your pics were posted, i took another look. The top and bottom of the box is hammered silver plates, which is where you get that scale effect, so it is likely to be .850 silver, which is 85% pure silver with base metals mixed in for stability. The silver(?) overlay is very intricate as is the medallion in the center. Based on the pattern variations, and the asymmetry of the overlay and medallion, i want to say this was handmade and is almost certainly Yogya silver. For some reason the Indonesian native silversmiths are stuck in the turn of the century, so you see a LOT of those post Victorian floral patterns and styles. The bad news is that Indonesian hallmarks are a nightmare. Remember the game “telephone” you played when you were a child? It is very similar. When a smithy changes hands, the new owner often just adds an initial to the previously used hallmark, which was also unidentified, so PCN could mean anything or nothing.
In terms of value, I am a little unsure what the auction demand would be, but in a retail store or gallery, i would not accept any offers below $2500. I am just hesitant to give a narrower value range without much more information than i am able to provide for you. If you are looking to sell it fast, take it to an antique dealer, instead of a gold and silver place, because you will get a higher value from a reputable dealer. If you have any provenance to go with this piece, you will be able to command even higher prices. Anything on paper linking this box with your father and the president, or a picture.. Traceable history is called provenance, and it is a long word that means money :p
I hope this was helpful!
~John
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johncraftstreasures Reputation: 172 See johncraftstreasures' booth |
I’ve found this web site to be very helpful to figure out the percentage of either gold or silver in an item based on the numbers printed on it. I keep it in my favorites.
[URL removed]
It defaults to gold, but you can change it to silver and then the 925 or 850 or whatever, see the instructions just below the calculator, so you can figure out what the purity level is and you can also find a market price if you want or need to.
[URL removed] I have no idea how the buying and selling of gold works, as gold is measured in grams or troy ounces and then the karats come into play, but I use this as a sort of guide to figure out at least the purity level of it. I found an item once that was marked 9.something karats, that’s when I knew I was needing more information. By the way, it’s a common class of gold in Europe, especially England I finally found out.
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johngermaine Reputation: 576 See johngermaine's booth |
Wow! Then this thing is worth $1,015.32 in silver alone! That does not include the history of this piece and the intricate work on it. Thanks, johngermaine!
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the_seller_inc Reputation: 616 See the_seller_inc's booth |
Viewed: 3170 times
Asked: almost 13 years ago
Latest response: almost 13 years ago
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