Silver and metals calculator
How to Identify Silver Hallmarks & Maker's Marks
http://www.governmentauctionsuk.co.uk/silver.html
http://www.shop4silver.co.uk/hallmark.html
Designs , like bright-cut, Fiddle(oar), Old English with bead
http://www.antiquesilverspoons.co.uk/patterns.htm
Makers Marks and dates
http://www.silvercollection.it/Englishsilvermarks1.html#19CENT
Silver History
we recommend you visit www.silver-collector.com
British Silver Hallmarks
The British system of Hallmarking and the unbroken continuity of marks over the centuries is unique and a source of great fascination for many people. Much of the charm and interest in British hallmarks lies in their variety and individuality. However the main object of hallmarking was and is to protect the public against fraud. What follows here is a brief overview of hallmarking in England, Scotland, and Ireland. It should be used as a guide only, and we recommend using the Bradbury's Book of Hallmarks (ISBN # 0953174123).
It has always been difficult to determine the purity of silver in an object by visual means and many countries have tried to establish a system of ensuring that certain standards are kept to protect customers who buy silver objects. In Britain our system developed about six hundred years ago, when laws were passed to fix the purity of silver in manufactured articles to be at least 925 parts of silver in every thousand parts. This standard became known as Sterling silver and, in order to be struck with a sterling silver mark, any object had to be sent to, and tested by, the wardens of the goldsmiths guild at the London Assay Office. This system probably represented the first form of consumer protection world wide. Later, in 1478, a further mark known as the date letter was added. This date letter changed each year and has proved to be of enormous value giving an accurate guide to the year in which an item was made. As other assay offices were established in different towns and struck their own identifying marks, it rapidly became possible to look at any piece of British silver and find marks which show standard, town of assay, year of manufacture and maker. This is a unique system and is the main reason, coupled with the excellence of the silversmith, that British silver is held in such high regard.
Silver Standards
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| The Lion Passant for Sterling silver in England. | The Lion Rampant for Sterling silver in Scotland. | The Crowned Harp for Sterling Silver in Ireland. | Britannia for Britannia silver in England and Scotland. |
Sterling Silver
The minimum standard of silver within Britain has always been set at the Sterling standard (92.5 %), and this is represented by the Lion, either passant (English) or rampant (Scottish).
The term "Sterling Silver", emerged in England by the 13th century.
The terms "sterling" and "pound sterling", seem to have acquired their meaning over a period of time, and from several convergent sources. The first mention is that of "sterilensis" in 1078, and by the thirteenth century (by the 1200's) the term sterling had appeared. "sterling" comes from the Old French esterlin and then stiere (strong, firm, immovable) in Old English.
Brittania Silver
Britannia silver is an alloy of silver containing 95.84% silver.
This standard was introduced in England by Act of Parliament in 1697 to replace sterling silver as the obligatory standard for items of silver. The lion passant gardant hallmark denoting sterling was replaced with "the figure of a woman commonly called Britannia", and the leopard's head mark of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths replaced with a "lion's head erased".
Britannia standard silver was introduced by the British government as part of the great recoinage scheme of William III from 1696, when attempts were made to limit the clipping and melting of sterling silver coinage. It was thought that by maintaining a higher standard for silver, there would be less incentive to put the newly issued sterling coins in the melting pot.
Sterling silver was approved again for use by silversmiths from 1 June 1720, and thereafter Britannia silver has remained an optional standard for silver assay in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Since the hallmarking changes of 1 January 1999, Britannia silver has been denoted by the millesimal fineness hallmark 958, with the symbol of Britannia being applied optionally.
Assay Town
Before the advent of mass transport and efficient communications there were many assay offices dotted around Britain to enable silversmiths to hallmark their goods. Even some relatively small towns had offices such as Plymouth, Colchester, Lincoln, Shrewsbury, Preston, Hull, Carlisle, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Perth, Cork, and Limerick. In England the main marks were for London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Chester, Exeter, York, Newcastle and Norwich. The main marks in Scotland were for Edinburgh and Glasgow. For Ireland there is Dublin. This is by no means an exhaustive list and we recommend the book Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks (ISBN # 0907462634) for a more detailed analysis.
As time passed, all of these smaller provincial assay offices closed down. Pieces of silverware with rare town marks are now very collectible and command high prices when they come on the market. Today the only assay offices that are left open for hallmarking are London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Edinburgh, and Dublin. Their marks are shown below.
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| The Leopards head for London | The Anchor for Birmingham | The Crown for Sheffield | The Castle for Edinburgh | Hibernia for Dublin |
Date Letter
The alphabet cycle is used to indicate the date of manufacture. With the letter changing each year you would expect only 26 options, but after each cycle the style of the lettering changed, and also the shield that the letter was surrounded by. The autonomy of each Assay Office and the piecemeal development of the Law over the centuries led to many peculiarities in the marks and in their application, so in 1973 a new Hallmarking Act was passed that tidied up many of the complexities and anomalies and led to a simplified date letter system. From 1975, all the major assay offices, excluding Dublin, used the same date letter cycle starting at the same letter. This made it a lot easier to understand but still retained as much of the interest and tradition as possible. Certain dates were commemorated with special marks such as the present Queens Jubilee in 1977, or King George V's jubilee of 1935. These are again quite collectible and starting to command a slight premium.
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| Example of an early date letter London 1478 |
Example of a new date letter London 1984 |
Maker
Each town or area obviously had a number of registered silversmiths and they all had their individual marks, which they sometimes changed to reflect changes in their business lives. But it was still the assay office that held their mark and there are various books that list makers marks. We can recommend the book 'London Goldsmiths 1697 to 1837 their Marks & Lives' by Arthur G. Grimwade (ISBN # 0571180655), or 'The Directory of London Gold & Silversmiths 1838 to 1914' by John Culme (ISBN # 0907462464). Certain makers are again very collectible and command very high prices. For example Paul Storr, Hester Bateman, Christopher Dresser, and Omar Ramsden
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Example of an old makers mark |
Example of a new makers mark |
Old Sheffield Plate
Until 1742 only silver items were made in Britain but then a process was invented to fuse sterling silver to copper and the Old Sheffield Plate industry started to develop. For almost one hundred years wonderful objects were crafted, by hand, from sheets of fused plate and almost everything made in silver was made in the new material. There was no legal requirement to mark Old Sheffield pieces so the system of hallmarking described above does not apply. Therefore it is often quite difficult to precisely date Old Sheffield items. Most of the time these pieces are dated based on their style and the way they are made, and this can lead to a fairly accurate circa date within 5 to 10 years either side. The Industrial Revolution, the invention of electricity and general forms of mechanization caused the demise of this industry and saw the growth of electroplating in the 1840's.
Electroplating
In 1840 the electrochemical deposition of silver onto base metals was invented by a company called Elkington of Birmingham, England. This technique was very suitable for use in the new factories being set up to manufacture objects to satisfy demand created by the great wealth of mid Victorian Britain. Early electroplating was on nickel and produced many fine objects, which are now becoming more and more sought after by collectors. Many pieces were struck with pseudo-hallmarks and, to avoid confusion, this was made illegal in 1896 and pieces had to be marked EPNS for 'electroplated nickel silver'. There was no legal requirement to mark electroplated goods so the system of hallmarking described above does not apply. So it is often quite difficult to precisely date an electroplated item. However some makers, such as Elkington & Co., actually marked their pieces with a date letter which is very helpful when deciding on their age. Most of the time electroplated pieces are dated based on their style and the way they are made, and this can lead to a fairly accurate circa date within 5 to 10 years either side.
copied from http://www.ifranks.com/control/silver_history.html#silverplate
Pls read original site unless disappeared