Simply Thimbles

T & I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary tomorrow.  For an anniversary present he got me this: It's a Charles Horner hallmarked sterling silver thimble.  It's been used and is a little marked but is absolutely perfect as far as I'm concerned.  It even came in its own little box.  Sweet. Thanks T.  xxxxx Bye for now Olly

The first current sent through the transatlantic cable stretching from Valentia Island, Ireland to White Sand Bay, Newfoundland was in 1866.  The message was sent by Latimer Clark.  After a few unsuccessful attempts he came up with the idea of making a small electric cell from a touch of sulphuric acid, a little bit of zinc and a smidgen of silver.   The silver came from a thimble like the one above. It was lent to him by Emily Fitzgerald, the daughter of the Knight of Kerry.  Emily's thimble generated enough current to send the signal 3,700 miles across the Atlantic in a mere second.  Imagine that - high speed communication - from a thimble! The thimble now resides in the London Science Museum.You can see a picture of it here . This particular design of thimble is now known as the Atlantic Cable thimble.  The one pictured above is from my collection. I think it's from around 1870 judging by the tallness and slightly domed to...

  Did you know that before the 1880’s silver thimbles did not need to be hallmarked? No? Well, although the silver used was the correct grade to be classified as sterling, the amount used per thimble was too small making the duty payable for the hallmark more than the thimble was worth. This changed in 1884 when applying for a hallmark became mandatory. Hallmarks or any other kind of marking on a thimble helps to date it. Even the little dimples can help you tell how old it is.   This thimble is hallmarked. They are a bit tricky to read sometimes as they are incredibly small and sometimes are worn, especially when the thimble has been well used like this one. I inherited this one from my mother-in-law, who probably inherited it from her mother. This hallmark gives the makers mark, CH for Charles Horner; the Lion symbol, indicating that it is sterling silver, the mark for Chester Assay office and the date letter. The date letter is for 1897. I mentioned in an ear...