HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH AND BRITISH SILVER
MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION

THE DIRECTORY OF ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, IRISH, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES SILVERMITHS
  created by Giorgio B. owner of
www.silvercollection.it © English home page
 home page in Italiano page d'accueil en francais
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, Bateman Family), history, oddities ...
SITE MAP - HOME PAGE
BRITISH SILVERSMITHS - ILLUSTRATED LISTING OF MAKER'S AND SPONSOR'S MARKS: GY
(click on the photo to enlarge image)
ADD NEW IMAGES TO THIS PAGE
FORWARD TO giorgio DETAILED PHOTOS
OF YOUR ITEM AND ITS MARKS
GY under a dot into a pentagon
George Young
Free of the Cutlers' Company. First mark entered 1723 as smallworker. Largeworker in 1746
London mark entered 1746
ADD NEW IMAGES TO THIS PAGE
FORWARD TO giorgio DETAILED PHOTOS
OF YOUR ITEM AND ITS MARKS
Gy & Co into three conjoined circles
Grey & Co
London mark entered 1893
Gy&Co mark, Grey & Co, Chester 1913 Gy&Co mark, Grey & Co, London 1901 Gy&Co mark, Grey & Co, Birmingham 1905
Gy&Co into a chamfered oblong rectangle
Grey & Co,
The firm was founded in London by William Grey in 1876 and from 1886 to 1936 was active under the style of Grey & Co.
Grey & Co was noted for their novelties in silver and supplied retail establishments such as Asprey & Co (London) and P. Orr & Sons (Madras, Rangoon & Calcutta).
Chester 1913 hallmark
London 1901 hallmark


Birmingham 1905 hallmark
STERLING SILVER OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, IRELAND, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES
ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF
BRITISH MAKER'S MARKS		 AA
AE		 AF
AZ		 BA
BZ		 CA
CH		 CK
CZ		 DA
DZ		 EA
EZ		 FA
FZ		 GA
GZ		 HA
HG		 HH
HZ		 IA
IG		 IH
IZ		 JA
JC		 JD
JH		 JJ
JP		 JQ
JS
ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF
BRITISH MAKER'S MARKS		 JT
JZ		 KA
LZ		 MA
MZ		 NA
PA		 PB
PZ		 QA
RH		 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
   
THE DIRECTORY OF SCOTTISH PROVINCIAL SILVER
ABERDEEN   ARBROATH    BALLATER    BANFF    CANONGATE    CUPAR    DUMFRIES    DUNDEE    ELGIN    ELLON    FOCHABERS    FORRES    GREENOCK    INVERNESS    MONTROSE    OBAN    PAISLEY    PERTH    PETERHEAD    TAIN    WICK
THE DIRECTORY OF CAPE SILVERSMITHS A - C D - I J - M N - T U - Z
THE DIRECTORY OF CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVERSMITHS A - F G - H I - P Q - Z unidentified makers
CANADA SILVERSMITHS 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
AUSTRALIAN SILVERSMITHS 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 NOT IDENTIFIED

BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS

The hallmarking of British silver is based on a combination of marks that makes possible the identification of the origin and the age of each piece.
The 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 certifiying 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 identifies the year in which the piece was verified by the assay office
London date letter 'a'
A further mark was used in the period 1784 - 1890:
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 -