TL;DR A crown in a British hallmark is a town or standard mark, not a purity number. On silver it is usually the Sheffield town mark, used from 1773 to 1975, or the crown over London's leopard's head before 1822. On British gold it sits beside the carat or fineness number. Irish, Swedish and Finnish marks also use crowns.
A crown stamped on silver or jewelry is a mark collectors often call the crown silver mark. In British hallmarks the crown is not a purity number: it is a town mark that names the assay office or, on gold, a standard mark that accompanies the carat or fineness figure. Crowns also appear in Irish, Swedish and Finnish marks, and in makers' trademarks on silver plate.
English hallmarking began with a statute of 1300, which required silver to be marked with the leopard's head. The crown entered the system later. From 1478 the London leopard's head wore a crown, and it lost the crown in 1822. When the Sheffield Assay Office opened under the Act of 1773, it was given a crown as its town mark.
A Sheffield sterling hallmark from before 1975 normally has four marks: the crown for Sheffield, the lion passant for sterling, a date letter for the year of assay and the maker's mark. Each assay office used its own cycle of date letters, so a Sheffield letter has to be read in the Sheffield table, not in the London one.
The 1973 Hallmarking Act gave Sheffield the rose as its town mark for both silver and gold, and the crown town mark was dropped from 1 January 1975. Sheffield silver marked from 1975 carries a rose, not a crown. A crown never means 925 by itself: British-made sterling is marked with the lion passant, and a crown with a number on a British hallmark is a gold mark.
Gold is the other place a British crown appears. From 1798, 18 carat gold was marked with a crown and the figure 18, and from 1844, 22 carat gold with a crown and 22. Under the 1973 Act, British-made gold carries a crown with 375, 585, 750 or 916. Since 1 January 1999 the crown on gold and the lion passant on silver have been optional marks, while the fineness number stays compulsory.
How do you identify a crown mark?
Read the marks around the crown. A crown in a shield next to a lion passant and a date letter is the Sheffield town mark on sterling, struck between 1773 and 1974. A crown above a leopard's head is the London town mark before 1822. A crown beside 375, 585, 750, 916, 18 or 22 is a British gold mark. Irish silver assayed in Dublin carries a crowned harp as its standard mark.
Outside Britain, Swedish silver carries a state control mark of three crowns taken from the Swedish arms, and Finnish silver carries a crown as its control mark. On silver plate, a crown with a maker's initials is a trademark, not a hallmark; the Sheffield Assay Office tolerated crowns on plated wares until about 1895. If a piece has a crown but no standard mark or fineness number, treat it as plate until proven otherwise.
Sources
- History, Sheffield Assay Office
- History of hallmarking, The Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office
- Hallmarking Act 1973, Schedule 2, legislation.gov.uk
- Hallmarking (Hallmarking Act Amendment) Regulations 1998, legislation.gov.uk
- Decrypting UK sterling marks, silvercollection.it
- Sweden silver hallmarks, silvercollection.it
- Finnish control marks, leimat.fi
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a crown mark on silver mean?
On British silver, a crown is usually the town mark of the Sheffield Assay Office, struck from 1773 to 1974. It shows where the piece was tested, not how pure it is; the purity is shown by the lion passant beside it. A crown over a leopard's head is the London town mark used before 1822.
Does a crown on a hallmark give the year?
No. The year comes from the date letter, a separate mark. Each assay office ran its own cycle of letters, shield shapes and fonts, so a Sheffield date letter has to be read in the Sheffield table. No single letter means the same year at every office.
What does a crown mean on gold?
On British gold, a crown is the standard mark for gold. It appeared with the figure 18 for 18 carat gold from 1798 and with 22 for 22 carat gold from 1844. Under the Hallmarking Act 1973, British-made gold carries a crown with 375, 585, 750 or 916. Since 1999 the crown has been optional.
Is a crown on silver plate a hallmark?
No. A crown on silver plate is a maker's trademark, not an assay mark. The use of a crown on plated wares was forbidden, but the Sheffield Assay Office tolerated it until about 1895, so many Victorian plated pieces carry a crown with the maker's initials. Plated pieces often carry EPNS or EP in place of a standard mark.
