13th century goblet

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My step-father recently came upon an old silver goblet shaped like an hour glass. At the bottom of the goblet it has the date 1345 and the rest is written in either french or latin. Can you give me some more information about the history and the rough value of it?

-- Maria Urbina (badeggy@erols.com), April 11, 1999

Answers

Take a time out here; stop and think. Can anyone give you more information based on the information you've supplied?

1. Why do you say it's silver? Color? What color is it? Whatever color it is, why do you say it's silver? 2. You want to assume the numbers are a date, but you say they are on the bottom of the goblet. Why would someone date the bottom of a goblet? What else might the numbers be? 3. You say "the rest is written in either french or latin." Even if you don't read French or Latin, many of us do, but first you would have to carefully copy out the words... 4. Beyond telling us that it's shaped like an hourglass, you haven't begun to describe the object. First ask, does it look as old as you want it to be? Does it show signs of use, of wear, of repair, of damage? Is there decoration of any sort? Can you tell us how the numbers and writing were made? Were they scratched? or impressed (molded into the surface)? or raised (molded above the surface)?

Let's be honest; chances are you have a metal cup, and that's about it. But, hey, you never know, so if you want to know more, first you're going to have tell more, a lot more.

-- Charles Gardiner (cgard@rclink.net), April 13, 1999.


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