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Spoon

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This sterling silver spoon was almost certainly made by the South River Cutlery Company, which operated in the town of Conway, Massachusetts, at the village Burkeville, just east of Conway center. The company opened in 1851 but closed its doors sometime around 1858. The spoon is marked "Sterling," which means it is made of a particularly fine quality silver. This was unusual in the 1850s: prior to the late 1860s, most American companies made their silverware from "coin" silver. Coin silver came from foreign silver coins that were melted and remade into cutlery. This spoon's sterling silver and elegant design mark it as being the top of the line for the South River Company.

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