The silver craftsman served three groups in New France: the church, the wealthy and those in the fur trade. The church required gold or silver for their religious vessels, the wealthy used the silversmith to supply gifts and domestic silver. Trade silver was used in the Indian trade. Tokens and items of silver such as ornaments, brooches and trinkets were traded for furs at the Hudson Bay Company. Silver was difficult to obtain so coins and old silver items were often melted to make new pieces.

Marks on silver indicated who made the piece and where the silversmith lived. While imported pieces carried at least four marks to show the quality of the silver, there was no organization or individual in New France with authority to determine the quality of the silver, its workmanship or when the piece was made. Article - 29 pages, bibliography and charts of silversmiths of Québec from the 17th, 18th and about the third quarter of the 19th centuries sourced from Landon, Lessard, et al.