Commenting especially on Reply #5, but earlier ones as well on this piece of silver: I haven't given it much thought, but I do feel that the coat of arms probably IS NOT Russian. The crown is troubling in that it's not the Russian Imperial Crown, and I don't think that it was MEANT to be. Closed arches in a crown generally indicate the holder of the arms is some sort of ruling entity, I believe. The quarterings are a bit troublesome to me, in that they ALMOST seem to be mirror images of each other, looking at the rampart lion/leopard repeats. I may be incorrect, but I am seeing this shield as bearing the quaterings/charges of TWO people. Thus for a union of two people to have such similiar quarterings is interesting, to say the least, IMO.
We have yet to address the crowned script initials, which are in Latin letters, apparently. THAT crown is more finely detailed, and I seemingly see fleurs-de-lis (?) in a band below the arches. Of course, the crowned monogram was undoubtedly later added than the arms (or, vice-versa !). Heraldry is an exceedingly complex "science," and I am certainly no authority. At the far end of the spectrum of thought: Are we dealing with a piece/s of silver, that somewhere along its life-span has had spurious arms/adornments added to increase its value? Just a thought. IF I had to venture a guess that the arms ARE authentic, then I would go in the "German arena" of heraldry. What is known of this piece's history and are there more similiarly-adorned ones? To be sure, there should be hallmarks, etc. present to attest to the date of manufacture, quality of the silver, etc. of the item/s. There appears to be relatively little wear on the engravings, but of course they are protected to some extent by the raised surrounding patten. Just some points of thought, with no pretense of being definitive. AP
