ENGLISH SILVER MARKS

MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER

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The hallmarking of English silver is based on a combination of marks that allow the identification of the origin and the age of each piece.
The marks are:

Town mark, corresponding to the mark of the assay office that has verified the piece
London town mark Sheffield town mark Birmingham town mark Newcastle town mark Dublin town mark Edimburgh town mark Glasgow town mark

Lion's passant guardant or Britannia or lion's head erased certifiying the silver's quality
lion passant: 1598-1820 lion passant: after 1820 Britannia and lion's head erased: from 1697 to 1718

Maker's mark, identifying the silversmith presenting the piece to the assay office

Date letter, in cycles of twenty letters of the alphabet of different shape identifies the year in which the piece was verified by the assay office
London date letter 'a'

A further mark was used in the period 1784 - 1890:
Sovereign head ('duty mark'), certifying the payment of duty
Sovereign head: duty mark from 1784 to 1890

LONDON MARKS London town mark from 1739 to 1820 London town mark from 1821
London hallmarks:1558-1577 London hallmarks:1578-1597 London hallmarks:1598-1617 London hallmarks:1618-1637 London hallmarks:1638-1657 London hallmarks:1658-1677
London hallmarks:1678-1697 London hallmarks:1698-1715 London hallmarks:1716-1725 London hallmarks:1726-1735 London hallmarks:1736-1755 London hallmarks:1756-1775
London hallmarks:1776-1795 London hallmarks:1796-1815 London hallmarks:1816-1835 London hallmarks:1836-1855 London hallmarks:1856-1875 London hallmarks:1876-1895
London hallmarks:1896-1915 London hallmarks:1916-1935 London hallmarks:1936-1955 London hallmarks:1956-1974 London hallmarks:1975-1990 London hallmarks:1991-2001

other towns (under construction)

Birmingham town marks Dublin town marks Edimburgh town marks Sheffield town marks Exeter town marks
Birmingham Dublin Edimburgh Sheffield
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