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Historically the standard mark for sterling (.925 purity) silver in Britain has been a lion passant and this will be found on the majority of pieces.
#Fn 1905 makers marks serial#
Fakesįollowing a successful conclusion to one of the largest cases of its type in years, a serial forger was jailed in 2008 for the faking and forging of antique silver makers' marks.Īssay Office's published guide detailing many of the fakes and forgeries Britannia Standard Silver Often makers are celebrated in their own right with some collectors choosing to collect the work of just one workshop or retailer such as Paul Storr, Hester Bateman, Charles Ashbee or Liberty & Co. The inclusion of initial stamps alongside the hallmarks means that most makers can also be identified. Specialist publications help explain different makers’ or sponsors’ marks, with Sir Charles Jackson’s English Goldsmiths and their Marks, first published in 1905 and revised in 1989, still the most authoritative work on the subject. The company or person responsible for sending a silver article for hallmarking has their own unique mark that must be registered with the assay office – a process that has been compulsory since the 14th century. Since 1999 the inclusion of a date letter has not been compulsory. Accordingly, it is increasingly common to see silver catalogued with a two-year date range. Until then, assay offices changed punches at different times of the year, so most letters were in fact used across two years. It should be noted that while the date letter has routinely been taken to represent a single year, it was not until 1975 that all date letters were changed on January 1. However, the date letter system allows antique plate to be dated more accurately than almost all other antiques. For a variety of reasons this practice was not always adhered to and the resulting anomalies can be seen in the tables of marks. Generally the letter was changed annually until a complete alphabet had been used and then the cycle would begin again with an alteration to the style of letter or its surrounding shield. Image courtesy of Lyon & Turnbull.Īlthough no longer compulsory, British hallmarks typically include a letter to indicate the year when a piece of silver was assayed. The lily pots are a reference to the city’s coat of arms. The silver hallmarks struck for Alexander Cameron of Dundee. Instead, they stamped the silver themselves with a maker's mark, a town mark or combinations of these and other marks. Here, often for reasons of security and economy, it was prudent to operate outside the jurisdiction of the metropolitan assay houses of Dublin and Edinburgh. Mark: half leopard's head, half fleur de lys and later five lions passant on a crossįor many reasons town silversmiths in Ireland and Scotland seldom sent their plate to Edinburgh, Glasgow or Dublin to be assayed. Mark: a crowned lion passant and a crowned rosette Marks: a crowned X or a three-turreted castle Silver struck with the half leopard’s head and half fleur de lys of York (closed 1856) and the crowned X or a three-turreted castle of Exeter (closed 1883) can be collectable on account of its rarity and sense of place.īelow is list of marks applied by provincial assay offices which have now ceased operating: Some of these ceased hallmarking as early as the Stuart period (the Norwich assay office identified by a crowned lion passant and a crowned rosette shut in 1701), while others such as Chester (three wheat sheaves and a sword) and Glasgow (a tree, bird, bell and fish) were still operating into the post-war era. Sequences of historical marks for the following offices can be viewed through the links below (reproduced courtesy of the British Hallmarking Council).Ĭollectors will often place a premium on silver hallmarked in other regional centres which have since closed. The Edinburgh mark is a three-turreted castle (to which a thistle was added from 1759 until 1975 when a lion rampant replace the thistle) the mark for Sheffield was a crown until 1974 when it was replaced by a rosette, while the symbol for silver made in Birmingham is an anchor.ĭublin silver is struck with a crowned harp, to which a seated figure of Hibernia was added in 1731. Since hallmarking began, the leopard’s head has been used in various forms to denote the London Assay Office. Most British and Irish silver carries a number of stamps indicating not just the standard or purity mark (typically the lion passant) but also the initials of the maker, a date letter and the place of assay. The leopard's head silver hallmark, which has been used in various forms as the symbol of the London Assay Office since hallmarking began.