Georgian Silver

The Georgian period extends from the beginning of George I's reign (1714) to the end of George IV's reign (1830). Often the reign of King William IV from 1830 to 1837 is also included however we will not look at this in this article.

• George I reigned from 1714 to 1727, as I'm sure you can work out for yourself this was a short reign of only 13 years, as such, antique silver items from George I period have a high value placed on them. Today it is becomming harder and harder to find such pieces. There are many collectors of Georgian silver and the items that they are usually most proud of are from George I.
• George II reigned from 1727 to 1760, this reign of 33 years was longer but no by that much. Owing to the fact that George II items are both very old and that his reign was short George II items tend to keep their value very well. The prices of George II silver are still on the high side but are usually good investments if not too high.
• George III reigned from 1760 to 1820. This was a reign of 60 years and is usually where Georgian silver collectors start. Becuase the reign was so long and because the age of the items is not as old the prices of George III antique silver is much more affordable, though don't think that Georgian silver from this reign is cheap, far from it. You have to remember that the Georgian period is a period of simple beauty which is very much in demand these days and as such the prices reflect this. More on this later.
• George IV reigned from 1820 - 1830, a reign of 10 years. This was a short reign but the pieces are more modern. Though still classed as Georgian the prices of items of antique silver from this reign are usually cheaper even though they were only produced for 10 years.

Earlier I touched on the fact the Georgian silver has a simple beauty to it and a lot of the time this is correct, however, the Georgian period stretches to well over 100 years and, as such, the period contains a number of styles.

Lots of simple Georgian items were changed by the victorians into very fancy, decorated pieces. Some collectors call this process being Vickied. this usually lowers the value of the item.