HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER
MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION - ILLUSTRATED LISTING

WITH THE ADDITION OF SCOTTISH, IRISH, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES SILVERMITHS
  created by Giorgio B. owner of
www.silvercollection.it © English home page
 versione italiana 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 MARKS: Y& - YZ
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
| |HOW TO READ ENGLISH/BRITISH STERLING SILVER MARKS|
| DUTY MARKS | LEOPARD'S HEAD | LONDON MARKS | WOMEN SILVERSMITHS | PSEUDO HALLMARKS | IMPORT MARKS |
| CONTEMPORARY MARKS | HERALDRY & FAMILY CRESTS | OLD ADVERTISEMENTS | FACTORIES & SHOPS: OLD IMAGES |
(click on the photo to enlarge image)
Y&W mark, Yapp & Woodward -John Yapp & John Woodward-, Birmingham 1849
Y & W
Yapp & Woodward -John Yapp & John Woodward-,
Birmingham 1849 hallmark
YB into a rectangle mark, Yates Brothers, Sheffield 2010
YB into a rectangle
Yates Brothers,
Nimrod Works, Trinity Street, Sheffield
Sheffield 2010 hallmark
YM into a rectangle mark, Yorkshire Mint, Birmingham 1977 YM into a rectangle mark, Yorkshire Mint, Sheffield 1977
YM into a rectangle
Yorkshire Mint,
Birmingham 1977 hallmark (note "Silver Jubilee" mark)


Sheffield 1977 hallmark (note "Silver Jubilee" mark)
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 silver piece manufactured or traded in the UK. 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 Edinburgh town mark Glasgow town mark

Lion passant guardant or Britannia or lion's head erased, certifiying the silver 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 (usually the initials of Christian name and surname of the silversmith)

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 the duty
Sovereign head: duty mark from 1784 to 1890
work in progress on this page - your help, corrections and suggestions will be greatly appreciated -