How old is this?

[KiwiCol]

Mrs Kiwicol was visiting a 2nd hand shop today & found these knives. Look pretty old & never been used. I've done a search on Viners, I see they're still going, but not making these sort any more.  Just curious if any of the UK contingent recognise them & may be able to date them.
I reckon Dave Barmy will know what they are, as the box says "mirror finish"!!   The box also has a 'serial' number on it too, 302m?

[KiwiCol]

Just wondering, if the '302' is the stainless grade & the 'm' is for 'mirror' ?   Could be.

[VladTepes]

Yes 302 is the grade of steel

https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=8197#

It's not the typical grade of steel that would be chosen for cutlery these days (usually 304 or 316)

The M is sometimes used to designate a steel that has been thermomechanically rolled.

In any event the 302 is the important part of the equation.

if very bored, and feeling technical, see also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAE_steel_grades
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_grades#Additional_symbols
http://www.roymech.co.uk/Useful_Tables/Matter/Steel_Europe.html

[VladTepes]

The knives themselves, assuming the handles are genuine Bakelite, would date to the 1920s-30s.

There were later reproductions, of course, with plastic handles.

Value? Realistically $20-$30 for the set.
 

edit:  The box looks vintage, but unfortunately I haven't been able to find any examples of various boxes to establish that. Cardboard box? That would be consistent with it being a 'lower end' item in their range.

[VladTepes]

I just noted that under the knives there is a card, and all I can read on it is "E.P.N.S Super A"

This would indicate its electroplated with a thin layer of silver. so take care when cleaning.

The plot thickns though..

EPNS - What Does That Mean?

EPNS stands for "Electro Plated Nickel Silver". Nickel Silver (sometimes stainless steel) is the base metal onto which silver is plated. Despite its name, nickel silver contains no silver at all, but is an alloy of Nickel, Zinc & Copper. A layer of pure silver is deposited electrolytically on the base metal to give a silver finish.

*EPSS stands for "Electro Plated Stainless Steel" and this is the current production style for Arthur Price of England silver plated ranges. This means that silver is plated onto a base metal of stainless steel rather than onto nickel silver. Some Hostess items from the Sheffield factory are now produced in the EPSS version.

The major practical difference between EPNS and EPSS is that EPNS is much more readily re-plateable in the future when the silver has worn down. EPSS might not be re-plateable so if you envisage that your cutlery may be suitable for re-plating at some future date, then our advice would be to opt for Sheffield Cutlery.

Common base metals include copper, brass, nickel silver - an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel - and Britannia metal - a tin alloy with 5-10% antimony.

Electroplated materials are often stamped EPNS for Electroplated Nickel Silver, or EPBM for Electroplated Britannia Metal. EPBM is unsuitable for replating.

http://www.steelcitycutlery.com/epns.html

So the E.P.N.S would seem to indicate its NOT Stainless Steel, but the top of the box does... 

Although the first paragraph of the quoted section above MAY indicate that E.P.N.S. is sometimes used even when the base metals s S/Steel... ?

Perhaps there's some more info on the rest of the card? Maybe its an ad for other items in their product range?

[KiwiCol]

Says "Warranted secure Ivorine handles".   Stainless De Lux Cutlery

[KiwiCol]

Just had a look at that card, it's for spoons & forks, someone has put that in the knife box.  The knives are stainless, it's engraved on the blade.  Prob not worth bugger all, just seemed old & wondered about age.

[T 24]

I believe that I have a full set of those, forks and knifes. I got them from my grandparents.
My mom can remember that they are made before second world war.

[gsxbarmy]

As said earlier, they are from the early 1900's, Viners was (and I nelieve still is) a large cutlery manufacturer. Unfortuantely though worth just a few bucks as too many are still around.

[KiwiCol]

Thanks chaps, early 1900's it is.  They'll be close to 100 years old then, impressive.

[Mister Fishfinger]

They are in a bloody sight better condition than the fork legs on my 1400.

[Globalrider]

Nice set of screw drivers!!!!
Stan

[essexboydave]

The fact they are still in the original box and it's in reasonable condition might make them worth a bit more but recently we bought 6 knives like that from an antique shop for £2.50, they had stacks of them in there.