Sterling Silver ‘Grenade’ Lighter by Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company, 1941
Price Code: £££
Reference: 6812
Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company
A fine and unusual novelty Sterling silver table lighter made by Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd in 1941, realistically modelled as a Mills ‘No.5’ grenade, complete with removable ‘safety pin’ and ‘strike lever’, Goldsmith’s and Silversmith’s Company marks and hallmarks for London.
Height: 4 inches (10 cm)
Note: The Mills ‘No.5’ grenade or ‘Mills Bomb’ as it was known colloquially, was introduced in May 1915 and remained the dominant British grenade for the rest of the War. Weighing 20 ounces, the Mills Bomb’s exterior was serrated so that it fragmented upon detonation, which took place 4 seconds after the strike lever ejected and set off the fuse. A revised version, the Mills 36m with a 7 second fuse, was introduced in 1917.
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