HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH AND BRITISH SILVER MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION THE DIRECTORY OF ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, IRISH, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES SILVERMITHS

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	DW into a rectangle David Willaume II, entered 1728 London 1732 hallmark
	DWG into a rectangle not identified, London 1977 hallmark

DW over JW into a shield or into a rectangle Daniel & John Wellby London 1906 hallmark (entered 1896) London 1891 hallmark (entered 1873) founded in 1827 by Joseph Clement and John Wellby. The business was continued by Daniel and John Wellby at 57 King Street, Soho Square and later to Garrick Street, Covent Garden. The firm was converted in 1896 into a limited liability company under the style of D & J Wellby Ltd.

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