HALLMARKS
Almost every item of silver bears some form of mark. Intended as and indication of purity these marks form the crucial means of finding and pairing items. Hallmarks were invented to grade, date and identify silver. They have been used for hundreds of years all over the world, making them one of the oldest guarantees.
Hallmark Guide
The following marks are usually found:
The Maker's /Sponsor's Mark - The initials of the person or firm that manufactured the piece.
The Assay Office Mark - There are currently five assay offices in the British Isles each has its own mark:
London : leopard's head
Birmingham : anchor
Sheffield : crown
Edinburgh : castle
Dublin : harp
The Date letter - The year in which the article was marked
The Lion Passant- This in general signifies the purity of the silver, generally 92.5% silver.
The above form a general guide only. Several other towns were authorised to mark precious metals and provincial maker's had there own series of marks. In addition other symbols were used for particular purposes i.e the duty mark. Of course when trying to reunite pieces these extra marks make identification positive.
The hallmark shown here shows five marks:
The Lion Passant
Leopard's head crowned (London)
Date letter- 1786
Duty Mark (George III)
Maker's Mark (William Sutton)
This is a clear well struck unworn mark. However, every thing is not always as straight forward as this!
This is not a hallmark as such as it was struck by a silversmith remote from any assay office; there are six marks. One, the maker's J P (James Pirie) is struck three times! The others are the initials A B D representing Aberdeen.
Despite these complexities and anomalies this only makes identification easier!
|
