Silver Hallmarks

For this month’s blog, let’s talk about silver hallmarks. You already know how much we love silver at Sarasota Antique Buyers, but now it’s time to tell you a little bit more about why.

If you recall, last month we discussed porcelain and the hallmarks that accompany different types of porcelain from different areas of the world. Silver hallmarks operate in much the same manner. They are applied to pieces of silver using a hammer and a punch, usually before the piece receives its final polishing.

Hallmarks are an indicator of a piece of silver’s purity, its manufacturer and/or silversmith and additional information about the piece, which varies from nation to nation. Some countries even use a national assayer to verify the purity of the silver. In other words, silver is serious business.

It’s especially serious in the U.K. and Ireland, where lots of information about the origin and quality of a piece of silver can be found through its punches. The assayer’s mark indicates purity, the date mark provides the exact year the piece was made, and the city mark indicates in which city the piece was assayed, or checked for purity. Each silver maker has his own maker’s mark; typically the maker’s initials inside an escutcheon, or shield. Irish silver contains an image of Hibernia, a tradition introduced in 1730 that continues even today.

In France, the assay mark for silver is an image of the head of Minerva, the Roman goddess of, most notably, poetry, medicine, wisdom and music. It’s also important to note that the French standard of quality for sterling silver is higher than other nations’; the French require 95 percent silver content. Items of lower-grade silver still contain the image of Minerva, but are also marked with the number two. Like the British and Irish, the French also punch silver pieces with a maker’s mark.

The U.S., on the other hand, does not have a national assay system or date marking system; however, some silver manufacturers, such as Tiffany, did adopt their own date-mark system. However, American manufacturers do apply a maker’s mark—for example, a lion passant or rampant and the letter “G” for the Gorham company, or the letters “T. and Co.” for Tiffany and Company. And even though no date marking
system was ever adopted, manufacturers’ catalogs and patent dates can be used to trace the origin and purity of a piece of American silver.

Because antique silver is often found tarnished, it’s important to refer to these hallmarks to determine the quality and time period of the piece—and remember that even though the silver may look undesirable at first, it can turn into a beautiful, sparkling, valuable piece very quickly. If you are interested in buying or
selling a piece of silver, please don’t hesitate to contact us, and we will be happy to assist you! We look forward to hearing from you!