Silver Plate Toothpick Holder

This Victorian look-alike silver-plated toothpick holder was offered by several mail order catalogs in the late 1990s. Although generally similar to original turn-of-century pieces, an exact old counterpart could not be located. There are no marks on the new piece. Silver plate is good quality, but the finishing on the base is poor. Note how the marks on the base are parallel and perfectly aligned. This is a sign of power tools, not normal wear.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2 Don't confuse the marks on the bottom as wear. Notice how they are all parallel and go in the same direction? Authentic normal wear creates random marks in many directions.