Colonial America
Ephraim Brasher Double Hallmarked "EB" Colonial Era Silver Spoon
c. 1780 Colonial Era, Coin Silver Serving Spoon, Engraved and Double Hallmarked "EB" by Ephraim Brasher, of New York City, Extremely Fine.
This large 9" long, coin silver serving spoon has ornate engraved initials of the original owner on the top of the spoon handle and two very clear "EB" hallmarks stamped on the bottom side of the handle. It is a beautiful example of his Silversmith engraved work. Ephraim Brasher is listed in "The Book of Old Silver" by Seymour Wyler, as producing silverware out of New York City from 1766. This "EB" style hallmark punch being the most famous and recognized amongst numismatists.



Brasher was a prominent New York City gold and silversmith. In 1787 he appears to have joined with the New York silversmith and noted swordmaker, John Bailey, in requesting a franchise to produce copper coins for the State of New York. The legislative record for February 12, 1787 stated, "the several petitions" of Brasher and Bailey were filed with the state. Because of the ambiguous wording it is not known if the petitions were joint ventures or simply individual petitions that just happened to have been submitted on the same day. Their petitions, along with the petition of their competitors, were denied a few months later when the state decided to refrain from the minting of coppers (see the Machin's Patterns section for additional details). Soon after the unfavorable judgment Ephraim Brasher turned his attention from coppers back to designing and minting a few pattern gold doubloons. Apparently he had been working on a Lima style gold piece the preceding year.
Ephraim Brasher was often asked to weigh and verify the authenticity of foreign gold coins for customers. Several examples of foreign gold have been discovered counterstamped with the initials EB in an oval (examples can be found in the Roper auction catalog). Apparently his stamp on a coin was taken as proof the item was of the proper weight and fineness. Breen discovered that Brasher's address in 1789-1790 was listed as number five Cherry Street in New York City, which was next door to George Washington's residence. It has been reported that in Washington's now lost household accounts there was an entry under April 17, 1790 stating Washington purchased four silver skewers from Brasher for 8 8s6d in New York currency. Brasher had a substantial reputation as an assayer. In November of 1792 with the assistance of David Ott he assayed several varieties of gold coins for the new Federal government. Thereafter Brasher assisted assaying gold for the U.S. Mint.