Edinburgh Assay Office marks: the castle, the thistle and the lion rampant

From the Act of 1457

Scottish hallmarking begins with an Act of 1457, which the Edinburgh Assay Office’s own history describes as the oldest surviving Act of Parliament referencing hallmarking. The three-towered castle, drawn from the city arms of Edinburgh, was first applied in 1485, and the Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh received a royal charter from James VII in 1687. The castle is still struck on Scottish-assayed pieces today.

For most of its history, Edinburgh was the only assay office in Scotland. Glasgow had a separate office for a period (1819 to 1964) using a tree-fish-bell-bird town mark, but it closed in the mid-20th century. Today, all Scottish hallmarking goes through Edinburgh.

GoldPaid is not the Edinburgh Assay Office and cannot hallmark anything. To contact the office, or to send work for marking, use its own site at edinburghassayoffice.co.uk. Items are submitted under a registered sponsor’s mark, which how to get an item hallmarked in the UK explains.

Reading the castle

1. Find the row of punches inside the shank, on the clasp, or on the back of the pendant.
2. Read the standard mark first to anchor the rest.
3. Identify the three-towered castle in its shield. On older pieces the shield outline may be more elaborate.
4. Read the date letter if present. Edinburgh uses its own letter cycle distinct from London, Birmingham and Sheffield.
5. Read the sponsor mark, usually two or three initials in a rectangular punch.

The thistle and the lion rampant

Older Edinburgh silver also carries the thistle, used between 1759 and 1975 as the silver standard mark for Edinburgh. The lion rampant replaced the thistle as Edinburgh’s sterling silver standard mark in 1975 and is still in use today. From 1975 onwards the standard system was harmonised across the UK and Edinburgh marks the modern numeric standards.

Common Edinburgh pieces

Scottish 9ct and 18ct rings, Edinburgh-assayed quaich bowls, Celtic-revival brooches and 19th-century Scottish silver flatware are all common in domestic UK collections. Edinburgh-marked Victorian and Edwardian jewellery often carries especially fine sponsor marks because the Scottish trade produced highly skilled craft work.

A note on Scottish provincial marks

Provincial Scottish silver was historically marked by silversmiths in Aberdeen, Banff, Dundee, Inverness, Perth, Glasgow and other burghs, sometimes without a formal assay office. These pieces carry maker initials and town letters but not always a standard mark. Identification is a specialist field. Modern Scottish hallmarks go through Edinburgh.

How the castle is used in valuation

The castle confirms where a piece was assayed, and the standard mark records the purity claimed for it at that point. Neither says anything about what has happened to the metal since. XRF settles that on arrival, and where the reading agrees with the punch, the offer is built on the tested weight and purity and the live precious-metal market. How a tested weight and purity become a written offer is set out step by step.

Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market. Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, tracked and signed for. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post. If the lot may be worth more than £2,500, tell us first and we can split it across more than one prepaid label at no charge. See how to sell gold by post.

From the Act of 1457 to a modern pendant

The Edinburgh castle is one of the more romantic marks in the UK system. It connects a 21st-century pendant to statute passed in 1457 through a single small punch. The system is alive and working. Pieces leaving the Edinburgh office in 2026 still carry the same three-towered profile that came off the bench five centuries ago.