Silverware: Colonial America

To own a single silver spoon in colonial America was a great luxury; more commonly people owned pewter, latten (a copper alloy similar to brass), or wood. Forks, rare in Europe, were almost unheard of in the colonies. Desire Gorham, a wealthy widow who died in Yarmouth, Massachusetts, in 1683, owned but two silver spoons and one silver beaker. No silver mines existed in New England, so silversmiths created their wares from coins or outmoded objects refashioned into the newest styles. Coin silver, usually made from melting down Spanish colonial reales, was not quite 0.900 pure, compared to the British sterling standard of 0.925 pure, but silverware could be melted down and converted into cash at any moment.