Antique Coin Silver Beaker Mittleberger & Co Montreal Canada c. 1806.

Description

3
” wide at the mouth, 3 ¼”
tall.
132 grams or 4.24 troy ounces
This is a seamed beaker made in Montreal Canada. Langdon has him working with this name after 1806. Except for the seam this looks like a late 18th c. English style beaker. Unfortunately, whoever made it evidently did not realize the problem with seamed beakers. If squeezed, or abused they will eventually rip along the seam. The solution would be to but a band at the lip, with a seam in a different place. So it seems likely that this was made around 1806, as presumably they would have learned soon after to change the form. The split extends about 5 mm or 3/16” below the lip. For a beaker this rare I would not recommend repairing it. Unless one plans on drinking from it, and even then it would only be a problem if you drink from where the split is or fill it to the brim. It makes more sense to buy a 17th c raised beaker from us, for less money.
The bottom looks dented, but I think this is a result of the way it was made, not damage. There are a handful of shallow dents here and there in the body, these could be removed by a silversmith. Again the seam on the bottom and on the inside of the seam on the side are not the neatest jobs I have seen. So presumably the silversmith wasn’t used to making seamed beakers yet.
As to the value: I have had only 3 Canadian beakers in over 40 years, and have seen only a few more sold. I would compare it to those sold at auction, but auction houses rarely have more than one picture, and rarely describe whether the beaker is seamed or raised. A later beaker recently sold for a bit more.
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