Silver Hallmarks
Also called assay marks, sterling marks.
Typical period: Varies
British hallmarking is the most informative marking system on any antique — a full set of marks gives the metal, the assay office, the year and the maker, with legal force behind it. American silver is far less regulated and gives much less.
What you are looking at
A row of small stamped symbols, usually on the base, the underside of a handle or the inside of a band.
How to date it
- British: four or five marks — a standard mark (a lion passant for sterling), a town mark, a date letter, and a maker's mark.
- The date letter is specific to the assay office and cycles through the alphabet with changing typefaces and shield shapes. Reference tables give an exact year.
- A sovereign's head duty mark indicates 1784 to 1890.
- American: 'sterling' or '925' indicates roughly 1860 onward. 'Coin' or '900' indicates earlier and a lower standard.
- Electroplate marks — EPNS, A1, EP — are not silver at all. They are plated base metal.
Spotting a reproduction
- Transposed marks — genuine hallmarks cut from a damaged piece and let into another — show a faint seam around the mark under magnification.
- Cast fakes reproduce the marks softly, without the crisp edges of a struck punch.
- A mark that does not correspond to any recorded office and date combination is a fake, and the reference tables are freely available.
What it is worth
Marks establish what a thing is; they do not make it valuable. Most Victorian silver trades near melt value, and value comes from maker, rarity, form and condition.
Confused with
Electroplated nickel silver — plated, not solid, and worth a small fraction. The letters are the whole answer.
Contains no silver at all despite the name.
Questions about this
How do you date silver hallmarks?
British: four or five marks — a standard mark (a lion passant for sterling), a town mark, a date letter, and a maker's mark. The date letter is specific to the assay office and cycles through the alphabet with changing typefaces and shield shapes. Reference tables give an exact year.
How do you spot a reproduction?
Transposed marks — genuine hallmarks cut from a damaged piece and let into another — show a faint seam around the mark under magnification.
Are silver hallmarks valuable?
Marks establish what a thing is; they do not make it valuable. Most Victorian silver trades near melt value, and value comes from maker, rarity, form and condition.