What the lion passant certifies
The lion passant is the standard mark for sterling silver in England. Passant is the heraldic word for walking: the lion moves to the left with its right forepaw raised. Struck by an assay office, it certifies that the piece was tested and found to be at least 925 parts silver in a thousand, the sterling standard.
It has been the sterling mark since 1544, when the London office replaced the leopard’s head in that role and the leopard’s head became the town mark. Every piece of English sterling from then until 1998 carries it. Since 1 January 1999 the pictorial mark has been optional and the number 925 in an oval is the compulsory standard mark, so a modern piece can carry either or both.
If there is no lion, no 925, no Britannia figure and no thistle or harp, the piece is not silver. The six tests cover what to do next.
Guardant or not: the 1821 change
Until 1821 the London lion looked out of the punch at you, its head turned to face the viewer. The heralds call that a lion passant guardant. From 1822 the head turned to face forward, in profile, and it has stayed that way. The English provincial offices followed London’s form.
That one detail dates a piece before you reach the date letter. A lion looking at you is Georgian or earlier. A lion in profile is 1822 or later. The date letters guide takes it from there.
In its first few years, 1544 to 1549, the London lion also wore a crown. A crowned lion passant guardant is a rare Tudor mark and worth a specialist’s opinion on its own.
How the mark varies
| Period | Office | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| 1544 to 1549 | London | Lion passant guardant, crowned |
| 1550 to 1821 | London and the English provincial offices | Lion passant guardant, head turned to face you |
| 1697 to 1720 | All English offices | Replaced by the figure of Britannia and a lion’s head erased, for the higher 958 standard |
| 1720 to 1821 | All English offices | Lion passant guardant again, Britannia only on request |
| 1773 onward | Birmingham and Sheffield | Lion passant from the offices’ first year |
| 1822 to date | All English offices | Lion passant, head in profile |
| 1999 to date | All offices | Optional. 925 in an oval is the compulsory mark |
The shape of the outline changed with the date-letter cycles at each office, so a lion in a plain rectangle and a lion in a shaped cartouche can be the same office fifty years apart. The outline is a clue to the period, not a mark in itself.
Marks that get mistaken for it
Lion rampant. A lion standing on its hind legs, forepaws raised. This is the Scottish sterling mark, struck at Glasgow from 1914 and at Edinburgh from 1975 in place of the thistle. Readers search for “lion rampant silver mark” and find a passant lion on their piece, or the other way round. Rampant means Scotland; passant means England.
Lion’s head erased. A lion’s head cut off at the neck, seen in profile. This belongs to the Britannia standard set of 1697 to 1720 and appears with the seated figure of Britannia, never on its own as a sterling mark.
Leopard’s head. A cat’s face seen from the front, crowned until 1821 and uncrowned after. This is the London town mark, not a standard mark, and it sits beside the lion passant on London silver.
A lion on electroplate. Some plate makers struck a lion of their own, usually next to EPNS, EP or A1, to make a plated piece read like silver at a glance. No assay office was involved. A lion with EPNS anywhere in the row is a plate mark.
Scotland and Ireland
Scottish silver never used the lion passant. Edinburgh struck a thistle as its standard mark from 1759 to 1974 and the lion rampant from 1975. Glasgow used the lion rampant alongside the thistle from 1914 until the office closed in 1964. Irish sterling carries a crowned harp, struck at Dublin, with the figure of Hibernia as the office mark from 1730.
Reading the rest of the row
The lion tells you the metal. The town mark tells you which office, the date letter the year, and the maker’s mark who sent it for assay. The hallmarks guide walks through all four with real pieces, and the identifier reads a row you type in.
