STERLING SILVER HALLMARKS

You can use this Information to find out the town of assay of your silverware and its approximate age.

All solid silver that has been registered in this country should carry assay marks.  These marks ensure that the silver was tested to see if it met British laws for silver purity and quality.

Apart from assay marks, there will also be a date mark and in some cases a duty mark to indicate that a relevant tax had been paid too. Typically a single piece will carry a Sterling Guarantee (such as a Lion), a Town mark from where it was assayed (Anchor, Crown, Castle etc.) a Date Letter (normally in a shield, circle or square) to identify the year of Assay (A-Z or a-z) and a Makers Mark (Typically some initials such as HP&S, R.B etc.)

From 1 January 1999 new European legislation has brought the British hallmarking system in line with the rest of Europe. Until then, only wares containing a minimum of 925 part per thousand of pure silver were hallmarked and allowed to be referred to as solid silver. This new legislation allows a wider range of purity to be marked in the UK as silver.  This means that a lower grade of silver (800) can also be marked in this country. Any "silver" without a suitable Sterling Guarantee hallmark should be treated as "white metal" as there is no guarantee as to how much silver the metal contains.

ALL Shop4Silver goods are of 925 quality.

Please Note: We do not give Hallmark Identifications, Date estimates or Valuations on Silverware by Email and we do not currently have a database of Makers Marks - Please do not email us with this sort of enquiry as we are not Antique experts.

BIRMINGHAM MARKS (Anchor Town Mark)

BIRMINGHAM ASSAY MARK 1773-1783
Date letters A (1773) to L (1783)

BIRMINGHAM ASSAY MARK 1784-1785
Date letters M and N

BIRMINGHAM ASSAY MARK 1786-1833
Date letters O to Z (1797) then a (1798) to z (1823) then Gothic script A (1824) to K (1833)

BIRMINGHAM ASSAY MARK 1834-1837
Date letters Gothic script L M N and O.

BIRMINGHAM ASSAY MARK 1838-1848
Date letters Gothic script P to Z (1848)

BIRMINGHAM ASSAY MARK 1849-1874
Date letters A to Z (S onwards are inside a circle instead of a square)

BIRMINGHAM ASSAY MARK 1875-1890
Date letters Gothic script a to q - j is missing (i=1883 k=1884)

BIRMINGHAM ASSAY MARK 1891-1899
Date letters Gothic script r s t u v w x y z

BIRMINGHAM ASSAY MARK 1900-1949
Date letters a (1900) to z (1924) again j is missing, then A (1925) to Z (1949)

LONDON MARKS (Leopards Head Town Mark)

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1679-1696
Date letters b to i (1686) then k (1687) to t (1696)

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1697-1719
Date letters - old copperplate type script a & b are 1697 then c (1698) to u (1715) (J is missing) then A B C D (1719)

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1720-1728
Date letters E to I (1724) and K (1725) to N, J is missing

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1729-1738
Date letters O P Q R S T U (U looks like a V) then a (1736) b c

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1739-1755
Date letters d e f g h i k l m n o p q r s (s looks like a long r) t u

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1756-1783
Date letters Gothic Script A B C D E F G H I (no J) K L M N O P Q R S T U (1775) then a to h

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1784-1785
Date letters i and k

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1786-1821
Date letters l to u (1795) then A (1796) to U (1815) missing out J, then a b c d e f(1821)

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1822-1833
Date letters g h i k l m n o p q r s

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1834-1837
Date letters t u then Gothic Script A (1836) and B (1873)

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1838-1890
Date letters Gothic Script C to U (1855) missing out J, then a (1856) to u (1875) (missing out j)
this is followed by A (1876) to P (1890), missing out J

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1891-1895
Date letters Q R S T U

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1896-1915
Date letters a to u missing out j

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1916-1922
Date letters Gothic Script a b c d e f g

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1923-1935
Date letters Gothic Script h i k l m n o p q r s t u

LONDON ASSAY MARK 1936-1974
Date letters Heavy Capitals A to U (1955) missing out J, then italic a to t (missing out j)

NORWICH MARKS (Castle Town Mark)

NORWICH ASSAY MARK 1624-1625

NORWICH ASSAY MARK 1626-1627

NORWICH ASSAY MARK 1628-1629

NORWICH ASSAY MARK 1630-1636

NORWICH ASSAY MARK 1637-1638

NORWICH ASSAY MARK 1639-1661

NORWICH ASSAY MARK 1689-1697

SHEFFIELD MARKS (Crown Town Mark)

SHEFFIELD ASSAY MARK 1773-1783
Date Letters, these are quite stylised and hard to read: E F A R h s A C D G B J e

SHEFFIELD ASSAY MARK 1784-1785
Date Letters, these are quite stylised and hard to read:J e (e looks more like a y backwards)

SHEFFIELD ASSAY MARK 1786-1833
Date Letters, again stylised and hard to read: k T w m L P U D m q Z V (1798) then Standard Text: E (1799) N H M F G B A S P K L C D R W O T X I V Q Y Z U (1823), then a (1824) b c d e f g h k i (1833)

SHEFFIELD ASSAY MARK 1834-1839
Date Letters m p q r s t

SHEFFIELD ASSAY MARK 1840-1867
Date Letters u v x z (1843) then A to Z (1867) missing out J and Q

SHEFFIELD ASSAY MARK 1868-1890
Date Letters A (1868) to X (1890) missing out I

SHEFFIELD ASSAY MARK 1891-1913
Date Letters Y Z (1892) then Gothic Script a (1893) to v (1913) missing out j

SHEFFIELD ASSAY MARK 1914-1917
Date Letters Gothic script w r y z (1917)

SHEFFIELD ASSAY MARK 1918-1974
Date Letters a to z (1942) missing out j, then A (1943) to Z (1967) missing out J, then Copperplate A B C D E F G

DUTY MARKS AND THE MILLENNIUM MARK

DUTY MARK: Victoria 1837-1890

DUTY MARK: George III 1784-1785

DUTY MARK: George III 1785-1820

DUTY MARK: Coronation 1952-1953 Queen Elizabeth

DUTY MARK: Jubilee 1934-1935 George V and Queen Mary

DUTY MARK: Silver Jubilee 1977 Queen Elizabeth II

MILLENNIUM MARK - ASSAY MARK FOR 2000 ONLY