15 Most Valuable Rare Antique Spoons

Folks who pay attention to the kind of cutlery they use know that not all are identical, especially antique spoons. Each size serves a different purpose, from desserts to main course meals, souvenirs, and soup spoons.

A rare antique silver spoon made by Paul Revere Jr. sold for $32,500 as part of a $2.4 million auction last year, June 2021, per Antique Trader. However, not all antique spoons fetch that much money as certain factors contribute to the bottom line.

From identifying real antique spoons to attaching a value and distinguishing between all types, we’ve got you covered. Before we go on, let’s see the 15 most valuable rare antique spoons.

The Most Valuable Antique Spoons Sold

NO.	Name	Year	Price
1	Paul Revere Jr.	c. 1800s	$32,500
2	Coast Haida Raven Coin Potlatch Spoon	c. 19th C	$4,400
3	Empress Alexandra Monogram Teaspoon Set of 6	c. 1896	$3,900
4	Silver-Gilt Russian Spoon	1908 – 1917	$2,519
5	Imperial Russian Faberge with Tsar Nicholas II Monogram	1908	$2,500
5	Imperial Easter Egg by Faberge	1890	$2,500
7	Cairo by Gorham Serving	c. 1880	$2,393.29
8	Imperial by Faberge	c. 1900	$2,385
9	Grand Imperial by Faberge	c. 1900	$2,280
10	Liberty & Co. Cymric Teaspoons	c. 1900	$1,827.68
11	Gorham Sterling Silver	c. 1870	$1,750
12	Cockrell Coin Silver Spoon	c. 1850	$1,725
13	English Georgian Teaspoon	1880	$1,590
14	Tiffany & Co. Indian Figural Spoon	c. 1800s	$1,400
15	George Schiebler Etruscan Spoon	1876 – 1910	$1,300.02

15. George Shiebler Etruscan Spoon

Year: 1876 – 1910

Price: $1,300.02

This sterling silver spoon is sold in top condition with no chips or scratches, although its silver isn’t as shiny as new. It’s 10¾-inches long, including the bowl and handle.  

14. Tiffany & Co. Indian Figural Spoon

Year: c. 1800s

Price: $1,400

This Tiffany & Co. Indian Spoon has a figural carving on its short handle, while the bowl is round and wide with geometric patterns carved on it. Its neck is also very short and jagged, making the entire spoon a unique artistic creation.

13. English Georgian Teaspoon by W.B Sterling

Year: 1800

Price: $1,590

This box set contains original English sterling silver spoons made in the 19th century, Georgian style. The teaspoons came in an in-laid wooden box with a tea compartment, and these extra features added to the value. Also, there are 12 identical pieces in the collection.

12. Cockrell Coin Silver Spoon

Year: 1850

Price: $1,725

These shovel-shaped antique spoons have faded engravings but have other identifying factors. It was made by Samuel Cockrell with a silver coin and came in different sizes. Turn the spoons to the back and check for the ER or ERT letters identifying their origin.

11. Gorham Sterling Silver

Year: c. 1870

Price: $1,750

Gorham sterling silver spoons are often valuable because the company is known for making high-quality pieces. It’s called a Pick, Shovel, or Mining spoon, depending on the region because of the bowl’s shape.

The spoon’s handle also has a unique design with a streamlined neck and wide handle. There’s a pattern on the hand showing a sickle within a leaf.  

10. Liberty & Co. Cymric Teaspoons

Year: c. 1900

Price: $1,827.68

Liberty & Co. Cymric teaspoons were made of sterling silver and enamel, and this set of six made in the Medea pattern sold with its original packaging. It originated in Birmingham; hence it has an anchor, lion passant, and date letter engraved.

The fully fitted case still has its ivory lining in good condition, so the owner can display the utensil instead of using it to eat.

9. Grand Imperial by Fabergé Spoon

Year: c. 1900

Price: $2,280

This Victorian-era silver spoon originating from Russia has a medium-sized bowl. The manufacturer gilded the spoon and wrapped it with colors on the handle, silver on the neck, and gold on the bowl.

The seller sold a complete set of six multicolored pieces in their original casing.

8. Imperial by Faberge

Year: c. 1900

Price: $2,385

Another Imperial by Farbegé spoon sold for over $2,000 earlier this month, August 2022. It has a unique thin handle with a crown on the tip and a colored bowl with a spiraled circumference.

Like the other collection, this set of six also had the original casing adding to its value. You can see the hallmark engraved at the back of the spoon’s handle.

7. Cairo by Gorham Serving Spoon

Year: c. 1880

Price: $2,393.29

As a rare pattern in good condition, this Cairo by Gorham serving spoon sold for over $2,000. It’s an Art Nouveau spoon with a sterling silver bowl and mixed metals on the handle.

The handle has a hand-engraved fern leaf monogram, while the bowl has two toothed edges. It’s 9” long and weighs 105 grams.

6. Imperial Easter Egg by Fabergé

Year: c. 1890

Price: $2,500

Unbranded antique teaspoons are often valuable because of their minute size, but this one is special because it’s made by the Russian company Fabergé. It has a Kokoshnik hallmark since the Easter egg collection was made in Moscow.

It also includes the Delta sign as the stamp of the Assay office in Moscow city. The seller sold it in its original presentation box with the Imperial Russian Eagle coat of arms on the handle tip.

This spoon earned its name from the bowl paint, which resembles an easter egg. Check it out above.

5. Imperial Russian Fabergé with Tsar Nicholas II Monogram

Year: c. 1908

Price: $2,500

As the last Tsar of the Romanov dynasty, anything related to Nicholas II and his family remains valuable. This antique spoon is highly ornamented with a solid gold Royal Cypher with a Delta and Kokoshnik hallmark.

It was sold in excellent condition, with the original patina proving its authenticity.

4. Silver-Gilt Russian Spoon

Year: 1908 – 1917

Price: $2,519

This antique spoon originated from Russia and it’s a mixed material piece with an enamel bowl and a silver gilt. It’s an 8 cm long spoon from bowl to handle and colorful art engraved on its bowl and handle while the neck is gold-plated silver.

Its length suggests a dessert or demitasse spoon for scooping ground coffee and making espresso. The seller sold 84 pieces belonging to a set of this design hence the high value.

3. Empress Alexandra Monogram Teaspoon Set of 6

Year: c.1896

Price: $3,900

Each piece of this antique spoon in this collection has a personal monogram of Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife to Tsar Nicholas II. The Tsar ruled between 1896 and 1917.

The Grand Duchess died in 1918 after the end of the monarchy leading to an increase in demand for Romanov dynasty items. It’s 14cm long and 190g heavy due to the sterling silver and gold used in making the spoon.

2. Coast Haida Raven Coin Potlatch Spoon

Year: c. 19th century

Price: $4,400

There are several reasons why this antique spoon made this list. Firstly, it’s a Native American souvenir spoon made by Charles Edenshaw. The Haida artist was a skilled woodcarver and jeweler in the gilded age.

This curvy spoon originated from the Northwest Coast American Indians and was used to eat the ceremonial potlatch feast. It was a show of wealth and power by tribal leaders, so it had rich cultural ties and was once a luxurious item.

You’ll also see ceremonial carvings on the spoon from the handle tip to the bowl.

1. Paul Revere Jr. Silver Spoon

Year: c. 1800s

Price: $32,500

A rare Paul Revere sterling silver tablespoon with the double H monogram representing Hepzibah Hall became the most expensive American-made sterling silver spoon. The owner now offers it at about $10,000 more than the original price.

Factors that Influence the Value of Antique Spoons

Wondering why an antique spoon might be worth more than another, here are some factors that play a role in this disparity in price.

What material was used to make the spoon?

Antique spoons could come in different materials depending on their purpose, like the Caviar spoon, which is made of wood, tusks, horns, gold, and any other material that’s not silver. Of all these materials, spoons made of Sterling Silver are worth the most money.

Sterling Silver is the closest to pure, high-quality metal in a spoon as it has 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent other alloys like copper, per the U.S. Geological Survey.

Uniqueness of the Design

Spoons with beautiful designs are automatically eye-catching and, as such, highly sought-after. Also, certain patterns were made in limited quantities and even fewer remain. These spoons rise in value due to their inaccessibility as collectors buy them for different reasons.

For some people, beauty is all they need as they intend to display the spoons as décor while others wouldn’t mind using them to eat. However, considering the amount placed on many of these antique spoons, we don’t blame anyone for turning them into decorative pieces.

The Spoon’s condition

Regardless of age, spoons are meant primarily for eating, and as such, utensils in perfect condition are worth the most. However, if you’re interested in collecting antique spoons for other purposes, slight damages such as dents and crooks shouldn’t matter.

As a seller, know that faded hallmarks and monograms mean depreciation, as there’s less evidence to prove the authenticity of your antique spoon.

The Antique Spoon Type

Antique spoons, as you know, come in different sizes and shapes meant for unique purposes. While this plays preference as collectors, it also influences value because it ties into a rarity.

Popular spoons like Ice, Soup, and Ice-Cream aren’t as valuable as those of unique types like Cutty and Caviar. Keep scrolling for more details below.

Identifying Valuable Spoons  

Just as vintage and antique spoons differ in size, they also have various monetary values and worth depending on the buyer. As such, it’s important to identify valuable antique spoons to avoid undervaluing or overpaying for an item.

Unfortunately, there’s no exact science to identifying rare antique spoons, but you can use some recurrent factors as a checklist.

Identify the Material Type

As you’ve learned, materials can help you identify the age of an antique spoon by using progression through the centuries. Each era had a popular item used to make utensils, and you can use that knowledge to your advantage.

Sterling Silver came in the early 1900s as a material for making royal and upper-class flatware. During that period, silver plating became rampant as a cheaper alternative to using expensive metals.

Trace the Forging Technique

The old ways aren’t the same as the new ones, so check the technique used in forging your antique spoon. Pre-19th century spoons were handmade, giving them a unique shape and texture, unlike mid-1800s productions, which embraced machine use.

Clean and sharp edges on geometric styles are signs of machine-made utensils. Also, trace the engraving with your fingers, then look closely for slight marks caused by freehand carving. Hallmarks on the back of the spoon’s handle also indicate early production.

Examine the Patterns on the Spoon

Patterns aren’t just meant to beautify the antique spoon and identify the maker and production era. Old spoons didn’t have an extensive inventory, and those that did aren’t many anymore. Luckily, you can use physical copies for comparison and create a new list.

Apart from the dates and manufacturer names on the spoon, some designs are peculiar to certain brands. Some of these designs extend beyond the handle to the neck, bowl, and tip, like Whiting’s nested bird.

See the table below for more.

NO.	Mark	Brand	Picture
1	Nested Bird	Whiting
2	Angel Raphael	Alvin
3	Japanese Flowers	Tiffany & Co.
4	Chrysanthemum	Durgin

Identify Hallmarks

Hallmarks are the most reliable sources of identification for sterling silver, gold, and other metallic antique spoons. It’s the official stamp of the manufacturer pressed by an assay office as a standard certification.

These marks vary from animals such as Lions to objects like crowns. Other signs tell you the metal used in forging the antique spoon, such as EP, which means Electro-Plated, and BP, meaning Britannia Plate.

Finally, hallmarks come with dates indicating the manufacturing date. Sometimes, these dates aren’t the exact day of production, but the year a brand was created. Knowing the difference is in the number of digits.

If it’s the brand’s formation year, it’ll be either the last two digits of each year or the full numbers like 1822 or 22. On the other hand, a mixture of numbers and letters or longer numbers indicates a more complex dating system signifying the production date.

What Type of Spoon Do You Have?

All along, we’ve spoken about the existence of different spoon types; now it’s time to highlight them. Before we continue, you should know that spoons are typically named by the meal they’re used to eating. Hence, you can guess the name based on the dish before you.

The tricky part comes when you have to select one out of many designs.

Berry Spoon

The best way to identify a berry spoon is the handle’s design which has an engraved berry. Its bowl is a circle wide enough to contain as many picked berries as possible.

Bonbon Spoon

The bonbon spoon is also called a Bonbonniere, and it’s used for picking candies and sweets. It has a wide perforated circular bowl. It originated from the French Royal Courts of the 1600s, where high society parties served chocolate desserts.

Guests enjoyed their party treats with the Bonbon spoon and kept their fingers clean.

Bouillon Spoon

A Bouillon spoon, a.k.a. soup spoon, is meant for eating soups and has a medium round bowl for scooping the thick broth. With the curved bowl, you can scoop even the last drop of your soup from the dish.

The handle on a bouillon spoon is about 5 to 5½” long, making it easy to clasp your fist around it and sip from the side of the bowl. Note that this spoon type is often used for formal meals and is suited to side dishes rather than main courses.

Caviar Spoon

Arguably, the Caviar spoon is the most popular type to exist apart from the extra special designs. Firstly, they’re not made of sterling silver like typical flatware since it alters the taste of Caviar. Instead, they’re made of unique materials like pearl, wood, gold, horns, or elephant tusk.

Secondly, this spoon has a unique 3 – 5” overall length to fit into the compact Caviar container. The spoon’s bowl is also really small, with a shallow well limiting the amount of Caviar scooped at once.

Cutty Spoon

Scottish/Irish-made Cutty spoon’s unique in every way, from their wide round bowl to their short handle. It’s considered the stubby version of spoons and is believed to originate from Scandinavian culture.

Our best guess is it’s used for eating a traditional Scandinavian meal, but Worst Room says it’s used for eating thin soups.

Ice Spoon

When you see the Ice Spoon, you would know from its long handle which is often 10” and above to its intricate designs and pierced thick bowl. The thickness prevents the spoon from deforming during use, as ice can be tough to pick.

Ice-Cream Spoon

Ice Cream spoons are a staple to have if you love cold desserts. You’d recognize them by the long handle, and thick wide bowl. Because ice cream spoons are meant for fun dessert treats, they’re often artsy in design.  

Olive Spoon

You pick out olives from the jar with the Olive Spoon. It has a long handle that can enter liquid without wetting your hands. Also, the bowl is perforated to drain the liquid while you pick the olives.

Pea Spoon

Peas are so tiny they require a spoon with scalloped edges on the bowl to pick each piece or more from a container.

Souvenir Spoons

According to CBS News, souvenir spoons originated in Massachusetts, America in 1890 when a jeweler used them during the Salem Witch Trials. Production of these sterling silver spoons continued until the early 1920s, making them at least 100 years old.

However, not all Souvenir spoons are valuable since other factors play into the bottom line. Certain topics draw more interest than others, and their monetary value depends on the maker, type, material quality, and historical importance.

Some souvenir spoons have two materials such as enamel and ceramic bowls.

Types of Souvenir Spoons worth Money

You can use patterns to determine the production era of a Souvenir Spoon.

Art Nouveau Nude Women

Artisans designed nude figurines on silverware, including spoons, at the peak of women’s empowerment in the 1800s to 1920s.

Tourist Spoons

Tourist locations such as Paris, Tuscany, Seychelles, and Beijing have interesting Souvenir spoons that are easily accessible. Contrarily, hidden gems in unique tourist locations like a small village in Italy are worth way more in dollars.

Native Americans

Native American culture may be a minority today but they made the best souvenir spoons. They fused culturally significant designs and marks including engravements of famous chiefs and tribal leaders.

Love to Know says Chief Ouray of the Ute spoons are some of the rarest and most valuable Souvenir spoons.

Teaspoons

Teaspoons are one of the most sought-after designs by collectors because they’re the most versatile. You can use it to mix tea and chocolate drinks and eat frozen treats.

Also, it’s a good measurement unit as it’s exactly 1/3 of a tablespoon.

FAQs

Q: What Antique Spoons are Worth Money?

Teaspoons are the most valuable antique spoons because of their size and intricate details from handle to bowl. Other types gain value depending on certain factors like age, brand, material, and design.

Q: How can you tell if a spoon is Antique?

As a general rule, antique spoons are those made 100 years ago or more. Also, it must contain sterling silver because that’s the oldest material used to make utensils. Other components include wood, ceramic, and animal horns.

Q: What’s the Rarest Silver Spoon?

A Paul Revere Jr. spoon made the world record as the most expensive sterling silver spoon ever after selling for over $30,000.

Q: Which Antique Spoon is Collectible?

Souvenir spoons are the most collectible sterling silver spoons worldwide because of their special origins and unique designs. Being a souvenir spoon alone is not enough; the utensil has to fit into other criteria, as explained above.

Final Words

Beyond the spoon types on this list, there are over a hundred other designs ranging from antiques to vintage. You can do extensive research on the internet, like using Google, Bing, Safari, and other search engines.

Always remember the following when choosing a vintage spoon;

• Teaspoons are the most valuable
• Caviar spoons aren’t made of sterling silver
• Antique spoons are the most valuable