Silver · Reference
Silver hallmarks
Silver hallmarks are the row of small punches an assay office struck into a piece after testing it. Read left to right they give the metal, the office, the year and the maker. This index has one page per mark, with what it certifies, when it was struck and the marks it gets confused with.
Start with the hallmarks guide if the row on your piece means nothing yet. If you already know which mark you are looking at, find it below. To read a whole row at once, the identifier takes the marks you can see and returns the metal, office, year and maker.
Hallmarks
Assay offices
2 pages
Hallmarks
Standard and other marks
1 page
Guides
Start here
The three guides that explain how the marks work together.
Silver · 9 minHow to read British silver hallmarksFour punches, read left to right, tell you what the metal is, where it was tested, when, and who made it. This guide walks through each one with real pieces.
Silver · 7 minSilver date letters, explainedEvery assay office stamped a hallmark date letter that changed yearly. How the cycles work, why the shield beats the letter, and how to find the year.
Silver · 6 minSolid silver or plate? Six tests you can do at the kitchen tableMost inherited "silver" is plated. Six ways to tell if silver is real before you weigh it, in the order a specialist would try them, and what each one proves.