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 ©

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

	B & C into three octagons Brookes & Crookes - John Brookes & Thomas Crookes Atlantic Works, St Philip's Road, Sheffield Sheffield 1907 (possibly) hallmark
	B & Co into a rectangle Bewlay & Co Ltd, The firm was founded in 1797. Eight similar marks entered from 1903 to 1910. Most of them were entered by Baron Elkan, Managing Director. The firm became a subsidiary of Finlay & Co Ltd (tobacconists, confectioners, etc.) London 1913 hallmark See the section of "TOBACCONISTS, PIPE MAKERS, PIPE MOUNTERS"
	B & Co into an oval Broadway and Co, Founded in 1900 by William Benjamin Broadway, a highly skilled die - sinker. Still active at Shady Lane, Kingstanding, Birmingham Birmingham 1984 hallmark Birmingham 1957 hallmark

	B&D into two conjoined octagons Boodle & Dunthorne, London 1962 hallmark
	B&F into a rectangle Bishton & Fletcher, 7 Northampton Street and Albion Street, Birmingham Birmingham 1897 hallmark
	B & G Birch & Gaydon, London 1938 hallmark
	B&H into two conjoined circles not identified , London 1977

B&S into an indented rectangle Brook & Son, Sheffield 1916 hallmark Edinburg 1924 hallmark

London	Birmingham	Dublin	Edinburgh	Sheffield	Chester

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

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

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

A further mark was used in the period 1784 - 1890:
Sovereign head ('duty mark'), certifying the payment of duty