Has Anyone Ever Come Across A Hallmarked NICKEL Peterson?

[pitchfork]

I didn't know that Ireland still required silver to be assayed and marked. Based on all of those Peterson pipes with silver bands and no date letters or assayer's marks, I assumed they had not adopted that portion of English law after independence in 1922. (Ironically, Irish law is based almost entirely on English law, but that's a whole 'nother story.) Turns out all of those pipes (including the one in the OP) are nickel or some other white metal.
http://www.peterson.ie/t/hallmarking

Hallmarking is not a legal requirement in many countries, but it is in Ireland. By Irish Law, the standard of most gold, silver and platinum articles must be tested (known as assaying) at the Assay Office of the Company of Goldsmiths at Dublin Castle.
Having established the legal standard of purity, the articles are stamped with a series of marks, known as Hallmarks.
All Peterson Silver Mounted Pipes carry three distinctive marks :
1.The Symbol Hibernia (Ireland) denoting the country of origin.

2. .925 is a new European standard mark denoting the high quality (purity) of the silver used.

3. The Date Letter Code for the year in which the silver was hallmarked and the pipe made.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

.925 is a new European standard mark denoting the high quality (purity) of the silver used.

Ok, ok, ok, I couldn't stop myself... from laughing. .925 is sterling silver, which is silver that has been mixed with other things to make it harder than pure silver, which is thus cheaper than pure silver. .999 is the symbol of a high level of silver.
A silver band on a Pete is under $1 worth of metal. It kills me how someone might get their panties in a wad over whether $1 worth of metal is "pure" or not. Ha ha. Take a silver pipe band to a metals dealer... see whether they will pay anything for that thing. Nickel might actually be worth more now a days, as it actually has more industrial uses and is harder to pull from the ore than silver.

 

[pitchfork]

Ok, ok, ok, I couldn't stop myself... from laughing. .925 is sterling silver, which is silver that has been mixed with other things to make it harder than pure silver, which is thus cheaper than pure silver. .999 is the symbol of a high level of silver.

I know, huh?

It kills me how someone might get their panties in a wad over...

But cosmic, that's what internet forums are for.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

When the price of gold and silver dropped, I had a couple come into my shop complaining that I didn't lower my prices. They were adamant that the price of my work should have dropped 20% when the cost of metals dropped. This is the type of misinformation that bothers me most. To know a little bit about something, does not make one an expert. But, to keep from beating around the bush, I just asked them, "so if the price of blue paint drops in the stores, are you going to hit the art galleries and complain that the work should cost less?"

 

[ericusrex]

So, does anyone know if these symbols date the pipe at all?
Cosmic, I realize that the silver band may only $1 worth of material, but I'd like to think (at least with these older Petes) that a better quality of briar was used on a silver-banded Pete and perhaps a more experienced craftsman in the shop made the pipe. So, if I'm right about this, a silver-banded Pete has much more value to me than the difference in the cost of materials. If I'm wrong about that, then I'm wrong about that. I'm still very much interested in this nickel-banded pipe in the pic but the fact that it appears to not be silver will affect how much I bid.

 

[rblood]

So, does anyone know if these symbols date the pipe at all?

The marks will not date the pipe. Best you can hope for on a Peterson without silver/gold date marks is to date it to a range of years based on COM, font used for stampings, stem type, etc.