I hear you about buying Continental silver at auction--I bought 3 wine tasters with Spanish hallmarks that I think that I will have to test (I try to avoid testing metals but sometimes there is no way around it.) I got the pieces cheap so if they are .915 (which the mark seems to suggest) it is a good buy.
There is some great continental silver out there - just not so easy to readily identify when you're out in the field. If you haven't done so already, try looking at the Spanish section on hallmarks here: www.925-1000.com/foreign_marks2.html
I hear you about buying Continental silver at auction--I bought 3 wine tasters with Spanish hallmarks that I think that I will have to test (I try to avoid testing metals but sometimes there is no way around it.) I got the pieces cheap so if they are .915 (which the mark seems to suggest) it is a good buy.
There is some great continental silver out there - just not so easy to readily identify when you're out in the field. If you haven't done so already, try looking at the Spanish section on hallmarks here: www.925-1000.com/foreign_marks2.html