WOW, I am addicted. I just received another beautiful silver snuff box I want to share with you. It was made in 1853 by Edward Smith. Birmingham Sterling Silver (.925 fineness) Weighs 50g It is small and slim 65mm x 25mm x 15mm my other one is huge in comparison. I don’t know, but my snuff seems to be fresher in these silver boxes with the gold gilt interiors. Guess they knew what they were doing in the Victorian Era in England.
That’s a very nice box you’ve got there. I’m quite jealous.
Very nice! I can see the similarities with my Edward Smith box, which is a little larger (83g). He might not be one of the big five silversmiths but he certainly isn’t far behind. 
Nice. Who are the “big 5 Silversmiths”?? I like the compactness of this box.
Bruce, how much did you pay? If you don’t mind me asking…
With shipping and insurance from the UK it was about $125.00
That’s not bad at all!
It’s out of my budget, but that’s rather cheap. Does the price of Silver have anything to do with the pricing? Or is it like every other antique, based on supply and demand.
It has to do with all of it. Silver plus the rarity, age, condition, the silversmith who made it and of course the biggest thing…who is buying it. It can go high in auctions. This box could go as high as $300. I happen to have a friend who is selling a big collection. Unfortunately he had only a few snuff boxes.
Great boxes. I always find that snuff lasts longer in my silver boxes, but I have no idea of the chemistry of this, although silver is an active metal which has antiseptic properties.
Big five: Nathaniel Mills Samuel Pemberton Joseph Willmore Matthew Linwood Joseph Taylor There is an Ebay guide about them.
@ermtony Thanks. I see the guide, good to know. But, did you see there are 5 persons or so of each name except for the JT. So, I wonder how do you know who made what…
I don’t think you can. It’s more a case of viewing the maker’s mark as indicative of a ‘house’ style than anything else and I must say that every Nathaniel Mills box I’ve seen has been beautiful. Mind you, my oldest snuff box (1809) is a Joseph Taylor 
I don’t use it as there is a split in it and it leaks badly, but I still like it.
@ ermtony I like Wilsons tins, you get extra snuff in them boxes. They cost you nowt!
@snuffhead I hate Wilsons tins! So do a lot of us. You need to try a Birmingham Silver box and then tell us. You will like it.
@ermtony That is nice that you have a JT from 1809! One of my things is I want to use the boxes no matter what their age is. I want them in excellent shape/design, gold wash interior, close snuggly and no damages at all. Not much to ask a 150 - 200 year old silver box for, right?