British Hallmarks: How to Read Them

Q: Do british hallmarks tell you the year?

Yes. The date letter is read together with its typeface and the shape of its surround, because each office ran cycles of twenty or twenty-five letters and then began again in a new style. Without the shape and font you have narrowed the date to one year in twenty-five rather than to one year. Every office ran its own independent cycle, so the letter must be matched against the correct office's table.

Marking since: 1300
Gives a year: Yes

How the system works

A full British hallmark is four punches read together: a sponsor's mark identifying who submitted the piece, a standard mark giving the fineness, an assay office mark giving the city, and a date letter giving the year. Since 1999 the millesimal fineness figure has been compulsory and the traditional pictorial standard marks are optional, so modern pieces often show fewer symbols than antique ones.

The marks

Mark	What it means
Leopard's head	London. Crowned until 1821, uncrowned after. In use since 1300.
Anchor	Birmingham, from 1773. The largest jewelry manufacturing centre in the world in the nineteenth century, so a great deal of Victorian and Edwardian work carries it.
Crown, then rose	Sheffield, from 1773. A crown until 1974, a Tudor rose from 1975.
Three towered castle	Edinburgh, from 1457.
Tree, fish and bell	Glasgow, 1819 to 1964. The office closed, so this mark cannot be later than 1964.
Three wheatsheaves and a sword	Chester, closed 1962.
Three castles	Newcastle, closed 1884.
Castle with three towers over a lion	Exeter, closed 1883.

The standards

Figure or mark	Fineness and use
Lion passant	Sterling silver, 925, in England.
Britannia	Britannia standard silver, 958. Compulsory 1697 to 1720, optional since.
Thistle	Sterling silver in Edinburgh, 1759 to 1974.
Lion rampant	Sterling silver in Scotland. Glasgow from 1819, Edinburgh from 1975.
916 or 22	22 carat gold, marked since 1798.
750 or 18	18 carat gold, marked since 1798.
625 or 15	15 carat gold, 1854 to 1932 only.
500 or 12	12 carat gold, 1854 to 1932 only.
585 or 14	14 carat gold, from 1932.
375 or 9	9 carat gold, from 1854.

Dating a british piece

The date letter is read together with its typeface and the shape of its surround, because each office ran cycles of twenty or twenty-five letters and then began again in a new style. Without the shape and font you have narrowed the date to one year in twenty-five rather than to one year. Every office ran its own independent cycle, so the letter must be matched against the correct office's table.

Where people go wrong

The duty mark, a profile of the reigning monarch, was struck from 1784 to 1890. Its presence brackets a British piece into that window immediately.
From 1904 imported precious metal had to be assayed in Britain and carries British marks in an import variant. A British hallmark is therefore not proof of British manufacture.
The 12 carat and 15 carat gold standards existed only from 1854 to 1932, when both were abolished and replaced by 14 carat. Those two marks are among the tightest dating evidence in the trade.
Resizing a ring removes the section of shank carrying the marks, which is why so many genuine antique British rings appear unmarked.

Other countries

Ireland · France · Germany · Denmark · Sweden · Norway · Finland · Netherlands · Russia and the Soviet Union · Austria and Hungary · Italy · Switzerland · United States · Mexico · Portugal · Spain · India · China and Hong Kong · Japan · Turkey and the Ottoman Empire · International marks