Silver hallmarks explained for charity shops.

UK silver hallmarks tell you four things at a glance: the purity (sterling or Britannia), the assay office (London, Birmingham, Sheffield or Edinburgh), the year (via the date letter) and the maker. Items below 7.78g are exempt from compulsory hallmarking, which is why some small silver pieces have no marks at all. The most useful single skill for a charity shop is the ability to read the lion passant (sterling) and tell it apart from EPNS, A1 and "silver plate" wording. Beyond that, recognising the four assay symbols and a handful of common maker marks covers the great majority of donated silver in a UK charity shop. This guide is the reference. The volunteer silver marks guide is the shorter day-to-day version.

A UK silver hallmark is the assay office's certification that the metal is silver of a stated purity. It dates back to 1300 and is still legally required for items above the weight threshold. The marks are stamped into the metal, not engraved or printed, and are usually very small.

A charity-shop volunteer doesn't need to know the history. They need to know that real UK silver carries a specific cluster of stamps that look like a small row of tiny shields, and that the presence of those stamps is the strongest possible indicator of sterling.

The cluster usually has four or five marks together. Identifying any one of them is a start. Identifying two means you can be confident the item is sterling.

Two purity standards are in current use for UK silver.

Sterling silver (925)

Sterling is 92.5% pure silver. The remainder is usually copper. Sterling is the standard for the great majority of British silverware.

Marks for sterling:

• 925 (numerical, more common on modern items).
• The lion passant (a small image of a lion walking, side-on, with one paw raised). This is the iconic UK sterling mark.
• The word sterling (more common on US-made items, also on some UK pieces).

If you see any one of these three marks, the item is sterling. The lion passant is the strongest UK indicator.

Britannia silver (958)

Britannia silver is 95.8% pure silver, higher purity than sterling. It's rarer than sterling but appears regularly in UK silverware, particularly on items where the maker wanted to demonstrate higher purity.

Marks for Britannia:

• 958 (numerical).
• A figure of Britannia (a small image of a seated lady with a shield and a trident or spear). This is the Britannia hallmark, distinct from the lion passant.

Britannia items are usually worth marginally more per gram than sterling because of the higher silver content. Treat as real silver and flag.

The assay-office symbols on silver are similar to gold but with some specific differences worth knowing.

London, the leopard's head

A leopard's head, the same symbol used on gold. London has assayed silver since 1300 and remains an active office.

Birmingham, the anchor

A small anchor, the same as on gold. Birmingham is one of the larger silver assay offices and stamps a great deal of British silverware.

Sheffield, the crown (historical) or rose (current)

Sheffield used a crown for silver from 1773 until 1975. Items from before 1975 carry the crown. From 1975 onwards, Sheffield silver carries the rose (the same rose used on gold).

The crown mark on silver is one of the most commonly seen historical marks in charity donations, because Sheffield made enormous quantities of silver flatware and tea sets.

Edinburgh, the castle

A three-towered castle, same as on gold. Edinburgh assays Scottish silver.

Two more historical offices appear on older items:

• Chester (a sword between three wheatsheaves), closed in 1962, items still in circulation.
• Dublin (a harp surmounted by a crown), for pre-1922 Irish silver.
• Glasgow, operated until 1964, used various marks including a tree, fish and bell.

If you see an unusual or pre-1965 assay mark and want to identify it, photograph it and ask. The pre-1922 Irish silver and pre-1964 Glasgow silver pieces sometimes have specific collector interest.

Each assay office uses a 20-letter alphabet (A to U, skipping J) on a rotating cycle, with the font and shield shape changing each cycle. A date letter, combined with the assay-office mark, identifies the exact year of assay.

For charity-shop purposes:

• The presence of a date letter confirms the item is properly UK-hallmarked.
• The year can matter for antique value. Pre-1900 silver, particularly Georgian (1714 to 1837) and Victorian (1837 to 1901), can carry significant period premium.
• Date letters are usually small and inside a shield-shaped stamp. They are different in appearance from the maker's letters.

A clear photo of the marks is enough for us to identify the year. Charities don't need to memorise date-letter tables, but if a piece is potentially Georgian or earlier, flagging it as such helps the assessment process.

The maker's or sponsor's mark on UK silver is usually two or three letters in a small shield. Some are famous and add value.

A short list of maker marks worth recognising in charity donations:

• HB, Hester Bateman, the renowned 18th-century Lincolnshire silversmith.
• MB, Matthew Boulton, Birmingham silversmith and industrialist.
• PS with various flourishes, Paul Storr, late Georgian and Regency silversmith.
• Mappin and Webb, full company name often stamped, plus M&W initials.
• Walker and Hall, full company name, Sheffield.
• James Dixon and Sons, full company name, Sheffield.
• Garrard, full name, court jewellers.
• Liberty and Co, Liberty's design pieces from the Arts and Crafts period.

If you see a clearly recognised maker, flag the item separately. Maker value can substantially exceed scrap value for collectable pieces.

For makers you don't recognise, photograph the mark and ask. We maintain a working list of maker marks for charity assessment.

This is the single most important distinction for a charity shop. Sterling silver has real metal value. Silver plate has very little, though it can have collector or design value separately.

The plate marks

Silver-plated items are usually stamped clearly. The marks to recognise:

• EPNS, Electro-Plated Nickel Silver. Plate on a nickel-silver base.
• EP, Electroplated.
• EPBM, Electro-Plated Britannia Metal. Plate on a Britannia-metal base.
• A1, A historical quality grade for silver plate.
• A1 plate, Same.
• "Silver Plated" or "Silver Plate" in full.
• NS, Nickel Silver (also called German Silver). Not silver at all despite the name.

If any of these marks appears, the item is plate. Treat as plate.

Some plate items can have meaningful collector value if the maker is well-known (Mappin and Webb plate, James Dixon plate, Walker and Hall plate). These items don't carry sterling scrap value but can sell well as antique pieces.

The visual differences

Beyond the marks, three visual differences help distinguish sterling from plate.

• Wear at high-contact points. Plated items wear through to base metal at handles, edges and high points. Look for silvery-grey or yellowish patches at wear points. Sterling wears smooth and stays the same colour throughout.
• Tarnish pattern. Sterling tarnishes to a dark grey-black, especially in crevices. Plate tarnishes more unevenly and sometimes shows base-metal corrosion.
• Weight. Sterling is heavier than plate of the same shape, but the difference is less dramatic than gold vs gold-plated. Use weight as a supporting signal, not a definitive one.

Marks vary by item type. The most useful locations:

• Spoons and forks. Back of the handle, near the bowl or stem.
• Tea sets. Bottom of the pot, jug or bowl. Often near the foot rim.
• Trays. Underside, near the rim or in a corner.
• Bowls. Inside the foot ring or on the underside near the foot.
• Rings. Inside the band.
• Chains. On the clasp or the small ring next to it.
• Pendants. On the back, near the bail.
• Cufflinks. On the back of the face or on the toggle.
• Candlesticks. On the underside of the base.
• Salt cellars and pepper pots. Underside or inside.
• Photo frames. On the back, near the easel.

If a piece has no visible marks anywhere you can find, consider that some small or older items genuinely have no marks. Photograph the item and ask.

Continental European silver follows different standards. Common continental marks:

• 800 (80% silver), common on German, Austrian, Dutch silver.
• 830, Scandinavian standard.
• 835, common on Continental European silver.
• 875, some Eastern European standards.

These are real silver, just lower purity than sterling. Treat as silver, flag for assessment.

Imported items into the UK after 1904 may carry a UK import mark (similar to a normal hallmark but with the office symbols in a different style). Pre-1904 imports may have no UK marks at all.

US sterling is marked "sterling" or "925". Russian silver carries the Cyrillic 84 or 875 numerical standard with a head profile mark. South American and Mexican silver often has "sterling 925" or country-specific marks.

If a mark is unfamiliar, photograph it. We identify most common international marks routinely.

Rocco Clayfield, Director, GoldPaid.