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: FE - FJ
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)
FE into two circles mark, Frederick Elkington, London 1875 FE into two circles mark, Frederick Elkington, Birmingham 1878
FE into two conjoined circles
Frederick Elkington,
 London 1875 hallmark


Birmingham 1878 hallmark
FE mark, Frederick Elkington (possibly), Sheffield 1883
FE
Frederick Elkington (possibly),
information reported on a book from the Sheffield Library, written by Jacqueline Richardson, the librarian, in 1997 (courtesy Lloyd Prator/ASCAS)
Sheffield 1883 hallmark
F F into two lozenges mark, not identified, Birmingham 1929
F F into two lozenges
not identified,
Birmingham 1929 hallmark
FH mark, Francis Howden, Edinburgh 1811
FH
Francis Howden,
Edinburgh 1811 hallmark
FH mark, Francis Higgins II, London 1857
FH
Francis Higgins II,
London 1857 hallmark
FH into a heart mark, The Portland Co -Francis Higgins III- , London 1861
FH gothic into a heart
The Portland Co Ltd -Francis Higgins III- ,
The firm was founded by Harry Emanuel, retailer goldsmith of Hanover Square, to capitalize a patent for the machine-production of spoons and forks. Francis Higgins acted as manager from 1859 to 1868
London 1861 hallmark
F H into a circle mark, Francis Howard Ltd, Sheffield 1924 F H into a circle mark, Francis Howard Ltd, Sheffield 1977 F H into a circle mark, Francis Howard Ltd, Birmingham 1935
F H into a circle
Francis Howard Ltd,
Trafalgar Street, Sheffield
Sheffield 1924 hallmark



Sheffield 1977 hallmark with Queen's Jubilee mark



Birmingham 1935 hallmark with King's Jubilee mark
F.H. into a heart mark, Francis Higgins III or Francis Higgins & Sons Ltd, London 1890
F.H. into a heart
Francis Higgins III or Francis Higgins & Sons Ltd,
London 1890 hallmark
F.H.A & Co mark, F H Adams & Co, Birmingham 1928
F.H.A &Co
F H Adams & Co,
Birmingham 1928 hallmark
F H A & H mark, F H Adams & Holman, Birmingham 1913
F.H.A & H
F H Adams & Holman,
Birmingham 1913 hallmark
FHR mark, not identified ,London 1973
FHR
not identified ,
London 1973 hallmark
F.J&S mark, F Johnson & Sons, Birmingham 1927
F.J&S
F Johnson & Sons,
Birmingham 1927 hallmark
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
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