KINGS PATTERN "ARG800"

It would be nice to get a photo of a representative piece and a close up of the mark. The crown is often used, and normally indicates country. For example a crescent moon and crown combination "(w" where (=crescent moon and w=crown, is typically a German mark. Most Crowns by them selves mean English as country of origin. Others use it too, and I suspect yours might be for Italy, because: the ARG800 has a few variations, for example just A800, depending on country. It is normally associated with Italy. It normally means sliver plated, which is quite common for silverware. If you have an approximate age, that would help. Did he give you the family set or were they new to you? If not a family set then he probably bought you a nice new set of an Italian silver plate service. The fancier the design, and heavier weight, the more desirable (pricey) the set usually. Are you looking for resale value or insurance? If insurance, remember to add a bit more for the cost of finding and buying the replacement set should you need to. I'd suggest simply looking for a similar set in a good quality store or on line (look for the pattern) and the price they are asking will be pretty close for insurance. Garry PS, I just came across a description on the internet by "Arg(um)entum" (Web pen name) that sums it up nicely: "ARG 800" is silverplated ware that probably originated in or was introduced to the market in Italy. 'ARG' of course was meant to evoke 'argento', re-enforcing the 800, thus misguiding the public without breaking the applicable law. I'm not sure when it was first sold but I suspect that the manufacturers or importers took advantage of a loose wording of Italian laws that must have existed for some time probably prior to the late 1960's.