ENGLISH SILVER HALLMARKS DIRECTORY SILVER MAKERS MARKS IDENTIFICATION
WITH THE ADDITION OF SCOTTISH, IRISH, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES SILVERMITHS |
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BRITISH SILVERSMITHS - ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF SILVER MAKERS MARKS THE DIRECTORY OF MAKER'S MARKS WG - WL |
ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF SILVERSMITHS' NAMES |
[B]=BIRMINGHAM [C]=CHESTER [D]=DUBLIN
[E]=EDINBURGH [EX]=EXETER [G]=GLASGOW [L]=LONDON [N]=NEWSCASTLE [S]=SHEFFIELD [Y]=YORK
(lower-case letter denote smaller ones but they may be capital letters)
CLICK ON THE YELLOW NAME FOR MAKER'S MARK IMAGE and ON THE GREEN NAME FOR INFORMATION |
BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS
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The hallmarking of British sterling silver is based on a combination of marks that makes possible the
identification of origin and age of each piece.
Follow this link to learn HOW TO READ ENGLISH/BRITISH STERLING SILVER MARKS
This is the combination of marks used to assay silver:
Town mark, corresponding to the hallmark of the Assay Office which verified the piece
Lion passant guardant or Britannia or lion's head erased, certifying the silver quality
Maker's mark, identifying the silversmith presenting the piece to the assay office (usually the initials of Christian name and surname of the silversmith)
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
A further mark was used in the period 1784 - 1890:
Sovereign head ('duty mark'), certifying the payment of the duty
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