Here in the United States, the number of patented flatware patterns grew substantially after the Civil War. This can be a general dating clue for the thousands of patterns you find in the antique marketplace. There are three patterns that should peak your interest, as they are the oldest:

the Dog Nose Pattern (1660 to 1760)

Tipped or Tipt (from 1712 forward)

and the Fiddle Back Pattern (from 1800 forward)

The English "dog nose" spoon shown above sold at auction in 2000 for $517.  An American "dog nose" spoon sold in 2006 for $2,040. 

There are also differences in the construction methods and the shapes of the stems used in very early flatware pieces. For instance, pre-Civil War flatware pieces have "C" shaped stems, not "S" shaped like today's flatware.

Since the United States did not have any national laws about marking silver until 1907, it's important to understand how to identify and date a potentially valuable piece of silver.

This is an exert from, "All About Antique Silver with International Hallmarks" which has an entire chapter devoted to flatware identification. In fact, the first third of the book is all about identification techniques and the last two thirds of the book has up-to-date hallmarks for 24 countries. The appendix has the Bristish Registry numbering system, U.S. design and utility patents and a metric conversion chart.

In his review of this book, Dean Six of "Silver Magazine" said: "This book is different and you should own it."

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