HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER
MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION

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WITH THE ADDITION OF SCOTTISH, IRISH, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES SILVERMITHS

This is a page of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu, a 1000 pages richly illustrated website offering all you need to know about antique silver, sterling silver, silverplate, sheffield plate, electroplate silver, silverware, flatware, tea services and tea complements, marks and hallmarks, articles, books, auction catalogs, famous silversmiths (Tiffany, Gorham, Jensen, Elkington, WMF, Reed & Barton, Mappin & Webb), history, oddities ...)
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BRITISH SILVERSMITHS - ILLUSTRATED LISTING OF MARKS
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
| DUTY MARKS | LEOPARD'S HEAD | LONDON MARKS | WOMEN SILVERSMITHS | PSEUDO HALLMARKS | IMPORT MARKS | CONTEMPORARY MARKS |
(click on the photo to enlarge image)
EGP mark, Birmingham 1897
EGP
Birmingham 1897 hallmark
EJH into three circles mark, E J Houlston, Birmingham 1929
EJH into three circles
E J Houlston
Birmingham hallmark 1929
EP and TWY+ (double mark), Edward Power and Edward Twy, Dublin 1831
EP and TWY+ (double mark)
Edward Power and Edward Twy,
Dublin 1831 hallmark
E.S.B mark, E S Barnsley & Co Ltd -Edward Souter Barnsley-, Birmingham 1913
E.S.B
E S Barnsley & Co Ltd -Edward Souter Barnsley-,
Birmingham hallmark 1913
E.Vmark, Emil Viner , Sheffield 1932
E.V
Emil Viner
Sheffield 1932 hallmark
FB mark, Frederick Brasted, London 1886
FB
Frederick Brasted,
London hallmark 1886
FC mark, Frederick Courthope London 1900
FC
Frederick Courthope,
London hallmark 1900
FC mark, Frank Cobb & Co, Sheffield 1931
FC
Frank Cobb & Co Ltd
Sheffield hallmark 1931
FE into two circles mark, Frederick Elkington, London 1875
FE into two circles
Frederick Elkington,
London 1875 hallmark
FH mark, Francis Higgins II, London 1857
FH
Francis Higgins II,
London 1857 hallmark
F H into a circle mark, Francis Howard Ltd, Sheffield 1924
F H into a circle
Francis Howard Ltd,
Sheffield 1924 hallmark
F.S over J.H into a shield mark, Sibray, Hall & Co -Frederick Sibray & Job Frank Hall-, London 1889
F.S over J.H into a shield
Sibray, Hall & Co -Frederick Sibray & Job Frank Hall-,
London 1889 hallmark
Fs over Ld mark, Finningan Ltd - Manchester, London 1903 Fs over Ld mark, Finningan Ltd - Manchester, London 1903
Fs over Ld
Finningan Ltd - Manchester,
London 1903 hallmark
GE & FD mark, Birmingham 1898
GE & FD
Birmingham 1898 hallmark
GE & S mark, George Edward & Son -possibly-, Glasgow 1871
GE & S
George Edward & Son -possibly-,
Glasgow 1871 hallmark
GA mark, George Adams, London 1877
GA
George Adams,
London 1877 hallmark
GDR mark, Glasgow 1913
G.D.R
George D Rattray,
Dundee
Glasgow 1913 hallmark
GEC mark, Birmingham 1910
GEC
Birmingham 1910 hallmark
BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS
London town marks Birmingham town marks Dublin town marks Edimburgh town marks Sheffield town marks Exeter town marks
London Birmingham Dublin Edimburgh Sheffield Chester
The British and English silver hallmarking system is based on a combination of marks that makes possible the identification of the origin and the age of each silver piece manufactured or traded in the UK.
The silver assay marks are:

Town mark, corresponding to the mark of the assay office that has verified the piece
London town mark Sheffield town mark Birmingham town mark Newcastle town mark Dublin town mark Edimburgh town mark Glasgow town mark

Lion's passant guardant or Britannia or lion's head erased certifying the silver's 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

Date letter, in cycles of twenty letters of the alphabet of different shape identifyings the year in which the piece was verified by the Assay Office
London date letter 'a'

A further mark was introduced in the period 1784 - 1890 in British and English silver hallmarking system:
Sovereign head ('duty mark'), certifying the payment of duty
Sovereign head: duty mark from 1784 to 1890

work in progress on this page - your help, corrections and suggestions will be greatly appreciated -