Silver marks are the small stamps, symbols, letters, and numbers struck into silver items to identify their maker, origin, age, and purity. Whether you call them hallmarks, makers marks, or silver stamps, learning to read them is how you tell sterling silver from silver plate and a workshop piece from a factory product.
Types of Silver Marks
- Purity / fineness marks: 925 (sterling), 800, 900, 916, 950 (Britannia), or words like "Sterling" or "Coin."
- Town / assay office marks: Birmingham anchor, Sheffield crown, London leopard's head, Edinburgh castle.
- Date letters: a single letter in a shaped shield encoding the year of assay.
- Makers marks: the silversmith's initials or workshop symbol.
- Standard marks: the lion passant (sterling), Britannia, kokoshnik (Russia), Hibernia (Ireland).
How to Read a Silver Mark
Look on the underside, rim, or foot of the piece. Photograph the marks under good light and a magnifier. Identify each symbol in turn — purity first, then town, then date, then maker — and cross-reference against a silver hallmark identification database.
Common Silver Hallmarks to Know
- 925 / Sterling: 92.5% pure silver, the most widely recognised standard.
- Lion passant: British sterling guarantee mark.
- Anchor: Birmingham town mark.
- Crown: Sheffield town mark (and various foreign marks).
- EPNS / EPBM: silver plate, not solid silver.