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Reading hallmarks and maker marks

A punched paper trail.

On British silver and gold, a set of punches records standard, assay town, date letter, and maker. Their style and combination date a piece precisely — often to the exact year.

Learn the anchors of the system: the lion passant for sterling, town marks such as the leopard’s head (London) and anchor (Birmingham), and the date letter whose alphabet and shield shape cycle predictably. Reference tables translate them in minutes.

Continental systems differ — numeric fineness marks like 800 or 925, national symbols, and import marks struck when a piece crossed a border. A number alone is a purity claim, not a British hallmark.

Marks can be faked, transposed from small genuine pieces, or “pulled” soft by later working — so judge the marks with the object, not instead of it. Crisp marks on a worn piece, or marks that disagree with the style, are questions to record, not ignore.

From the guide library inside Collectors Catalogues, a free app for cataloguing antiques and finds with honest, museum-grade records.

More on skills

Reading patina — What surface color tells you — and doesn’t.

Spotting casting seams — How an object was made narrows its date.

Recognising modern copies — The tells of a later reproduction.

General signs of a reproduction — What later copies get wrong.

Weighing and the density test — Mass tells on fakes.

Using UV and magnification — Seeing what the eye misses.

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