How to Read Silver Hallmarks: UK Guide
How to Read Silver Hallmarks: UK Guide
Reviewed by Faustas Svencionis, updated October 2026A British silver hallmark is a row of small punches: the maker's mark, a standard mark such as the lion passant, the assay office's town mark and a date letter. Read them in that order.
- 1What a hallmark tells you
- 2Read it in five steps
- 3Why one letter means many years
- 4Marks that are not British hallmarks
- 5Questions
- Lion passant or 925 in a shield means sterling; Britannia or 958 means Britannia silver.
- The town mark names the assay office: leopard's head London, anchor Birmingham.
- A date letter only gives the year when read with its office, typeface and shield.
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What a silver hallmark tells you
A hallmark is a set of small stamps struck by an assay office after it has tested the metal. In Britain hallmarking has been a legal requirement since around 1300, one of the oldest forms of consumer protection in the world. The marks tell you who made or sent the piece, how pure the silver is, where it was tested and, on most pieces, when.
Today silver above 7.78 grams must be hallmarked to be sold as silver in the UK. Since 1999 three marks are compulsory: the sponsor's mark, the fineness mark and the assay office mark. The date letter and the traditional lion are optional but still widely used.
How to read a hallmark in five steps
Work through the marks in the same order every time, with a 10x loupe and good side light.
- Find the marks
Look on the underside, on the back of a spoon or fork handle near the bowl, inside a rim, or on a clasp. Rings are marked inside the band.
- Find the standard mark
A lion passant or 925 means sterling; Britannia or 958 means Britannia silver. No standard mark at all may mean the piece is not British, or not silver.
- Find the office
The town mark names the assay office that tested the piece: see the marks below.
- Date it
Match the date letter, its case, typeface and shield to that office's chart.
- Note the maker
Record the sponsor's initials and look them up. A good maker adds value above the metal.
How to read a British hallmark
- Maker's mark
- Properly the sponsor's mark: the initials of the silversmith or firm that sent the piece for assay, in a shaped punch. G&Co Ld is Garrard & Co; ET is Edward Thomason.
- Standard mark
- The lion passant for sterling, 925, in England since 1544. Britannia for 958, compulsory 1697 to 1720. The thistle in Edinburgh 1759 to 1975, the lion rampant in Glasgow from 1819, and the crowned harp in Ireland. Since 1999 the fineness number in a shield is compulsory.
- Town mark
- The assay office: the leopard's head for London (crowned until 1821), the anchor for Birmingham, the crown and later the rose for Sheffield, the castle for Edinburgh and Hibernia for Dublin. Chester, Exeter, Glasgow, Newcastle and York have closed, so their marks also set a latest date.
- Date letter
- A single letter for the year of assay, in a set typeface and shield. Each office ran its own cycles; since 1975 all UK offices share one letter, changing on 1 January, and since 1999 it is optional.
- Duty mark
- The sovereign's head in profile, struck from 1784 to 1890 to show that tax on silver had been paid. The monarch's profile helps to date the piece.
- Import and convention marks
- Foreign silver assayed in Britain carried an F from 1867 and separate import marks from 1904. The Common Control Mark has been recognised in the UK since 1976.
Key marks
Why the same letter can mean different years
Each office reused its alphabet every twenty years or so, changing the typeface and the shield each time. The letter S shows why you need the office, the typeface and the shield together: a crowned S in an oval is Sheffield 1807, a capital S in a shield is London 1893, and a small s in a shield is London 1913.
To find your year, match the letter, its case, typeface and shield against the chart for that office. Our assay offices guide links to each one, or let the identifier read it from a photo.
Marks that are not British hallmarks
- 925 or STERLING alone usually means silver made outside the UK, often American or modern.
- 800, 830 or 835 are continental standards, below sterling. See German and Italian marks.
- EPNS, EP and A1 are plating marks, not silver: see EPNS or sterling.
- Crude lions and odd letters on richly chased pieces may be imitation marks on Chinese export silver.
- No marks at all: have it tested. See how to tell if silver is real.
Worn or polished marks, partial strikes and later additions make reading harder. If marks look misaligned, doubled or out of place, ask a specialist before you rely on them.
Sterling or silver plate? Read the marks
Sterling silver carries a full set of hallmarks, with the lion passant as its standard mark. Silver plate never does. Plated pieces are base metal with a thin silver coating, and they carry the platers' own marks instead:
| Mark | What it means |
|---|---|
| Lion passant | Sterling silver, hallmarked |
| EPNS | Electroplated nickel silver |
| EP or EPBM | Electroplate, EPBM on Britannia metal |
| A1 | A platers' quality grade, not a silver standard |
Are the marks genuine?
Crisp, well-struck marks in the right order and the right shapes are strong evidence on their own, because British marks are hard to fake. Under the Hallmarking Act 1973 it is a criminal offence to apply false hallmarks or to sell counterfeit-marked goods as hallmarked. Worn, blurred or oddly shaped marks deserve a closer look; send us a clear photograph and we will read them for you.
Not sure what your marks say?
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Hallmarks by country
All countriesLion passant, town marks and date letters
Crowned harp and Hibernia
Minerva head, from 1838
Crescent and crown, from 1888
Diana head, 1866 to 1922
Zolotnik numbers, kokoshnik 1896 to 1917
Star mark, from 1968
Lion standards and date letters
Sterling and makers' marks
Related silver guides
Upload a photo, or search marks from over 40 countries
Every town mark, open and closed
The leopard's head and London date letters
The anchor, from 1773
The crown, then the rose from 1975
925, 800, 958 and the numbers explained
How to tell plate from solid silver
Simple checks at home
Questions
What does the lion passant mean on silver?
It is the standard mark for sterling silver, 925 parts per 1000, used in England since 1544. The lion walks to the viewer's left with a forepaw raised.
What are the four marks on British silver?
The sponsor's or maker's mark, the standard mark (a lion passant for sterling or Britannia for 958 silver), the assay office's town mark and the date letter. Silver made between 1784 and 1890 may also carry the sovereign's head duty mark.
How do I date silver from its hallmark?
Identify the assay office from the town mark, then match the date letter's case, typeface and shield to that office's chart. The same letter recurs in different cycles, so the style matters as much as the letter.
What is the anchor hallmark?
The anchor is the town mark of the Birmingham Assay Office, used since it opened in 1773.
What does 925 mean on silver?
925 means 92.5% silver, the sterling standard. On its own, without a British hallmark, it usually means the piece was made or sold outside the UK.
What is Britannia silver?
Silver of 958 parts per 1000, marked with a seated figure of Britannia. It was compulsory in England from 1697 to 1720 and has been optional ever since.
Is silver without a hallmark real?
It can be. Foreign, very early and small pieces are often unmarked, and items under 7.78 grams do not need a UK hallmark. Have unmarked pieces tested.
Can I identify a hallmark from a photo?
Yes. Upload a close, sharp photo to our free identifier and it reads the town mark, standard, date letter and maker, shows the result on screen and emails you a copy.
Thinking of selling?
Send a few photos of the piece and its marks, and a specialist will value it, free and with no obligation.
