Extremely Rare 1830s Teaspoon by Orrin N. Sage of Erie, PA

Offered is a very rare, and perhaps unique circa early 1830s coin silver teaspoon made by Orrin N. Sage (biography below), silversmith and surgeon dentist, and marked with his maker's mark. This mark is unique in shape and style and includes the city denotation of Erie within the design. The mark on this spoon was published in Silver Magazine recently as part of a series of articles on the Silversmiths of Erie. No other examples have been recorded anywhere. This teaspoon has a good clear maker's mark and a period engraved script monogram of "MA". It measures about 5 1/2 inches in length and weighs about 12 grams. Condition overall is excellent, with moderate surface wear but no tip wear and no dents, splits or repairs. all in all a fabulous piece of early Erie history!

Orrin Newton Sage (1805-1884) and his younger brother Charles T. Sage both spent some time in the early 1830s trying to make it as silversmiths and jewelers in Erie, PA, and neither had much success. Orrin then went to Huntsville, Alabama in 1834-35 (I have newspaper clippings of his advertisements in Huntsville), working as a surgeon dentist. This also seemed not to have panned out, and he returned to Erie briefly before moving his family to Stark County, Ohio. He later became a prominent Baptist minister, dying in 1884.