British Hallmarks or Assay Marks
Introduction
British Hallmarks or Assay marks are stamped on the precious metals of Silver, Gold and Platinum and serve as a guarantee to the quality of the metal as well as identifying the date and location of testing. Marks of various forms have been in use since about 1300 and were introduced to protect buyers from unknowingly purchasing lower quality metals.
Precious metals are tested at Assay offices in various towns and cities in the British Isles. The term 'to assay' is the process to determine the amount of a component in a particular mixture (in this case the purity of the precious metal) and is now used more loosely to denote the city or town of Assay and the year of production. Any additional marks, including the makers mark, are known as 'hall marks'. The terms Hallmark and Assay tend to be used interchangeably these days to refer collectively to the marks on precious metals.
British Assay Offices still working are London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Sheffield, complete listings can be found below. Assay Offices no longer working include Chester, Exeter, Glasgow, Newcastle, Norwich and York, listings for these are also shown.
Silver Assay & Hallmarks
The following information is intended as a guide to the more commonly used marks, to enable you to identify the date and origin of silver. Antique Centre Worldwide cannot be held responsible for any errors or differences in opinion on any marks shown on this website.
The marks shown here are those that were most commonly in use, however there may have been variations in the shape and style of shields, letters or symbols.
Points to confirm authenticity:
Check for the quality and continuity of sets of marks:
Do the marks match the appearance of the item in terms of wear relative to its age?
Are they overly worn causing them to be illegible? (This could detract from the desirability and price)
Are all the marks similar in appearance? e.g. size
All assayed silver items will carry a full set of marks, if there is more than one part ( e.g a teapot with a lid) they may not all carry a full sets of marks.
Identifying the marks on a piece of silver.
1. Look for the Lion Passant (Silver Standard Mark)
British silver items will always carry the 'Lion Passant', (Lion standing, side view) so check for that first.
The lion itself may be looking forward or over its shoulder, the shape of the shield will vary, according to the date, but if there is no lion, then your item is not assayed British Silver.
2. Look for the City mark
This tells you which Assay Office tested and approved the item.
The city marks are shown in the table below. (Full sets of marks for each of the following cities are set out below, please scroll down)
| Assay Office |
Description |
Mark 1 |
Mark 2 |
London
(to present) |
Leopard's Head (with crown to 1821) |
 |
 |
Birmingham
(to present) |
Anchor |
 |
|
Edinburgh
(to present) |
Castle |
 |
|
Sheffield
(to present) |
Crown (To 1973 then Tudor Rose) |
 |
 |
Chester
(to 1962) |
3 Sheaves of corn |
 |
|
Exeter
(to 1882) |
Castle |
 |
|
Glasgow
(to 1963) |
Tree with bird & fish at base |
 |
|
Newcastle
(to 1883) |
3 Castles |
 |
|
Norwich
(to early 1700's) |
Lion with Castle over |
 |
|
York
(to 1856) |
Half lion head & Fleur de lvs to 1701, then 5 lions within a cross |
 |
 |
Assay marks for provincial silversmiths including Bristol, Barnstable, Shrewsbury, Hull, Truro, Plymouth, Kings Lynn Taunton and Leeds have all been identified, but are not included here.
3. Look for the Year Mark (Letter)
The year in which a piece of silver was assayed can be accurately identified by the letter mark. The letter was changed each year and they usually run in alphabetical order with the same font and shield shape, and then change to another series of shields and a different font. Both capital and lower case letters are used. Due to the fact that Assay Offices were independent the series of letters do not conform across all offices or start in the same year.
4. Look for the Makers Mark
The maker's marks are unique to each maker, there are many hundreds.
5. Additional Marks
There may be additional marks such as those representing the monarch of the time, a jubilee of the monarch or the Britannia mark (denoting a higher purity of silver)
Exampple of Makers Mark |
Example of Lion Silver Standard Mark |
Example of Assay Mark - London |
Example of year mark |
Image of a set of hallmarks:
The item is of Sterling silver, assayed in London, in 1789 (King George III ) by Silversmith Thomas Wallis.
1. Silver Standard Mark
2. City Mark
3. Date Letter
4. Duty Mark (Monarch)
5. Makers Mark
Full sets of silver marks are set out below, please scroll down.
