This book guides those who are totally ignorant of antique silver to a reasonable standard of knowledge in a short time. It is specially designed to help the buyer of silver, whether dealer or amateur, more directly than the seller. The author describes the problems and pitfalls which face the novice. The text is supported by hundreds of illustrations of silver pieces and the author analyzes the values of these pieces in a manner which should leave the novice with a much clearer understanding of the complex factors which go to make up the assessment of quality of a piece of silver.