ENGLISH, SCOTTISH AND IRISH SILVER HALLMARKS
LONDON SILVER DATE LETTERS AND SYMBOLS
THE GUIDE TO MARKS OF BRITISH SILVER
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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

London town mark    Sheffield town mark    Birmingham town mark    Newcastle town mark    Dublin town mark    Edinburgh town mark    Glasgow town mark

Lion passant guardant or Britannia or lion's head erased, certifying the silver 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 (usually the initials of Christian name and surname of the silversmith)
examples of maker's mark


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' London date letter 'a'


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

Sovereign head: duty mark George III, 1784 Sovereign head: duty mark George III, 1795 Sovereign head: duty mark George IV, 1822 Sovereign head: duty mark George IV, 1825 Sovereign head: duty mark William IV, 1835 Sovereign head: duty mark Victoria, 1838


BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS


LONDON DATE LETTERS CHART / SILVER HALLMARKS UK

 LONDON SILVER DATE 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


BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS

HALLMARKS OF BRITISH SILVER MAKERS: ENGLAND - SCOTLAND - IRELAND - CHANNEL ISLANDS - COLONIES
HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER - MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION

BRITISH SILVERSMITHS - MAKER'S AND SPONSOR'S MARKS IDENTIFICATION     - MARK'S IMAGE -
A&/AC    AD/AK    AL/AZ    B&/BB    BC/BO    BP/BZ    C&/CA    CB/CC    CD/CF    CG/CL    CM/CS    CT/CZ    D&/DB    DC/DL    DM/DZ    E&/EA    EB/ED    EE/EH    EI/EO    P/EZ    F&/FD    FE/FJ    FK/FZ    G&/GB    GC/GG    GH/GL    GM/GR    GS/GZ    H&/H&    HA/HB    HC/HE    HF/HL    HM/HU    HV/HZ    I&/IG    IH/IL    IM/IZ    J&/JA    JB/JC    JD/JG    JH/JK    JL/JQ    JR/JR    JS/JS    JT/JZ    K&/KZ    L&/LB    LC/LZ    M&/MB    MC/MI    MJ/MZ    N&/NZ    O&/OZ    P&/PK    PL/PZ    QA/QZ    R&/RB    RC/RG    RH/RK    RL/RQ    RR/RZ    S&/SB    SC/SI    SJ/SR    SS/SZ    T&/TC    TD/TG    TH/TN    TO/TS    TT/TZ    UA/UZ    V&/VZ    W&/WA    WB/WB    WC/WC    WD/WE    WF/WG    WH/WL    WM/WM    WN/WR    WS/WS    WT/XZ    Y&/YZ    Z&/ZZ   

STERLING SILVER OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MAKER'S MARKS
AA/AE    AF/AZ    BA/BZ    CA/CH    CI/CZ    DA/DZ    EA/EZ    FA/FZ    GA/GZ    HA/HG    HH/HZ    IA/IG    IH/IZ    JA/JC    JD/JI    JJ/JP    JQ/JS    JT/JZ    KA/LZ    MA/MZ    NA/PA    PB/PZ    QA/RJ    RK/RZ    SA/SG    SH/SZ    TA/TH    TI/TZ    UA/WB    WC/WF    WG/WL    WM/WS    WT/ZZ   

ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF SILVERSMITHS' NAMES
A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J    K    L    M    N    O    P    Q    R    S    T    U    V    W    X/Y    Z   

LISTING OF SILVERSMITHS' NAMES

THE DIRECTORY OF SCOTLAND (PROVINCIAL) - CHANNEL ISLANDS - CANADA - AUSTRALIA - CAPE COLONY
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