Beautiful antique French Napoleon III era 18k gold on .800 (nearly sterling) silver 3pc breakfast or dessert flatware set with highly ornate pattern and all in wonderful condition. This set with solid silver fork tines & spoon bowl, the handles not solid but filled surely and the knife blade with a lovely engraved or machined decoration & "Paris" marking. The fork & spoon bear the French Minerve or Minerva hallmarks, the tiny number "2" within those marks means they're in .800 silver under the gold plating (80% pure silver or better so just under the .925 standard for "sterling" silver). Both also bear the silversmith marl of "LB" but I've not found reference to it as of listing. Gorgeous!
Very good condition, age considered. There is a bit of loss/wear to the gold plating, mostly visible on the back sides of the spoon bowl and fork tines. The knife blade is pre-stainless so it does have some visible age tarnish and/or corrosion marks. See images for all weights and measuremetns.
