Bible with silver clasp, Haarlem, 1809

19th-century Bible (New Testament) from the publisher: Johannes Enschede and sons from Haarlem from 1809.

The silver hook clasp is hallmarked with the French second-grade hallmark and the insect hallmark. This hallmark was struck to make the creation and use of counterfeit hallmarks extremely difficult. While skilled engravers could create reasonably good counterfeit hallmarks, it was impossible to reconstruct a counterfeit bigorne anvil, because each object a forger could examine contained only a tiny fraction of the approximately 90 insects.

The silver clasp interlocks. This is the first time we've encountered such a clasp, so it can be considered rare.

The Bible is in good condition.

Weight: 448.7 grams

Dimensions: 15 x 8.5 x 5 cm