HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER
MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION

WITH THE ADDITION OF SCOTTISH, IRISH, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES SILVERMITHS
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BRITISH SILVERSMITHS - ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MARKS: BP - BZ
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
(click on the photo to enlarge image)
B.P into an oval mark, not identified , Birmingham 1963
B.P into an oval
not identified
Birmingham 1963 hallmark
BP into a rectangle mark, Benjamin Preston, London 1825
BP into a rectangle
Benjamin Preston
mark entered 16 September 1825 - died 1887
London 1825 hallmark
B P D C into four squares mark, Boots Pure Drug Company, Birmingham 1907
B P D C into four squares
Boots Pure Drug Company
Boots was founded in Nottingham, England by John Boot who opened his original shop in 1849. The company was transformed into a national chain by his son Jesse in the 1870s and for the first time they became official dispensing chemist, stocking prescription medicines. Boots now has almost one thousand five hundred stores including some stores overseas. The Alliance Boots group in total has nearly 3,000 stores.
Birmingham 1907 hallmark
B P over D C into shield mark, Boots Pure Drug Company, Birmingham 1913
B P over D C into a shield
Boots Pure Drug Company
Birmingham 1913 hallmark
Bs into a shield mark, Bravingtons Ltd , Birmingham 1934
Bs into a shield
Bravingtons Ltd ,
Pentonville Road and Ludgate Hill, London
Birmingham 1934 hallmark
BS into an oval mark, Bruce Stevenson, Sheffield 1979 BS into an oval mark, Bruce Stevenson, Sheffield 1979
BS into an oval
Bruce Stevenson
Sheffield 1979 hallmark
BS into two conjoined circles mark, Benjamin Smith, London c. 1840
BS into two conjoined circles
Benjamin Smith
London c. 1840 hallmark
B.S mark, Benjamin Smith II, London 1835 B.S mark, Benjamin Smith II, London 1835
B.S
Benjamin Smith II,

London 1835 hallmark



London 1831 hallmark
BS over IS mark, Benjamin Smith I & James Smith, London 1809
BS over IS
Benjamin Smith I & James Smith,
London 1809 hallmark
B WMJS RD into a shield mark, William, Michael & John Barnard & Sons with Robert Dubock, London 1900 B WMJS RD into a shield mark, William, Michael & John Barnard & Sons with Robert Dubock, London 1900
B WMJS RD into a shield
Walter, John, Michael, Stanley Barnard & Robert Dubock
London 1900 hallmark
A predecessor silversmith of Edward Barnard & Sons Ltd, business still active in present days ... MORE....
HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER - MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION
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
CAPE SILVERSMITHS A - C D - I J - M N - T U - Z
CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVERSMITHS A - F G - H I - P Q - Z unidentified
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
BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS
London town marks Birmingham town marks Dublin town marks Edinburgh town marks Sheffield town marks Exeter town marks
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
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 -