Georgian silver in a charity shop: 1714-1837 and what the hallmark dates tell you.

The Georgian period and the four monarchs

The Georgian period in British silver runs from the accession of George I in 1714 to the death of William IV in 1837. Four monarchs and 123 years sit inside it. The early Georgian style is influenced by the late Baroque and by the Huguenot silversmiths who arrived in London after 1685. The mid-Georgian period brings the rococo, with shells, scrolls and flowing asymmetrical decoration. The late Georgian period, sometimes called the Regency, brings a neoclassical revival: clean lines, fluting, beading and Greek-key borders.

For a charity shop, the monarch matters because the duty mark used on assayed silver between 1784 and 1890 shows the sovereign's head, and the profile changes with each monarch. A George III duty mark is a balding profile of the king. A George IV duty mark shows his fuller jawline. A William IV mark shows a different profile again. The duty mark is informational rather than essential for sorting, but it helps confirm that a piece is genuinely Georgian rather than a Victorian or later reproduction.

The assay-office date-letter cycle

Every British assay office runs a 20-year or 25-year cycle of date letters. London used 20-letter cycles, omitting J. Birmingham used 25-letter cycles. Sheffield used a different cycle order. Each year of the cycle is a single letter in a unique font and shaped surround. When the cycle ends, the next cycle restarts with "A" in a new font.

For Georgian pieces, the date letter is essential. A volunteer who can read the letter and check it against a published table can date the piece to a specific year. The combination of the date letter, the assay office town mark, and the duty mark (where present) gives a triangulated date that is hard to fake. Modern reproductions sometimes copy the maker's mark and the lion passant but get the date letter font subtly wrong, which is one of the ways auction houses spot fakes.

A charity shop is not expected to date Georgian pieces precisely on the donation table. The job is to recognise that the marks look right, the piece feels Georgian (clean hand-raised form, slightly uneven surface from hand-work, well-defined punches), and to send a photo on WhatsApp before posting.

The duty mark introduced in 1784

The sovereign's head duty mark was introduced in 1784 to show that the silver duty (a tax of sixpence per ounce, raised over the years) had been paid on the piece. It was added to the existing hallmark row by the assay office at the time of assay. The duty mark remained in use until 1890, when the tax was repealed.

A Georgian piece assayed between 1784 and 1837 will normally carry a duty mark alongside the maker's mark, the lion passant, the town mark and the date letter. That is a five-mark row. A Georgian piece assayed before 1784 will have a four-mark row without the duty mark. Either is correct for its date.

Why Georgian pieces almost always have a maker's mark

The maker's mark, also called the sponsor's mark, has been compulsory on assayed British silver since the early eighteenth century. Georgian silversmiths registered their initials with the assay office and stamped them on every piece they submitted. The registers survive in part, and many Georgian makers can be identified by their initial-letter cipher.

Names a charity shop manager may encounter on Georgian donations include Hester Bateman (London, 1761-1790, one of the most collected female silversmiths), Paul Storr (London, 1796-1838, the leading Regency silversmith), Paul de Lamerie (London, 1712-1751, the leading early-Georgian Huguenot silversmith), Peter and Ann Bateman (continuing the Bateman workshop), Robert and David Hennell (a long-running family workshop), and many provincial makers from Newcastle, York, Chester, Exeter and Edinburgh.

A Georgian piece by a named maker is worth materially more than a similar piece by an unrecorded maker, because the maker can be researched and the piece authenticated. A Paul Storr or Paul de Lamerie piece commands a premium that can sit far above pure metal value. This is one of the main reasons Georgian pieces rarely get melted: the antique value almost always exceeds the scrap.

Common Georgian forms a charity shop might see

Georgian silver covers a wide range of household objects. The forms a charity shop is most likely to see in a donation are the smaller and more portable pieces, because they survive in larger numbers and are more likely to pass through family hands.

• Sauce boats. Boat-shaped vessels with a single handle and a pouring lip. Common from the 1730s onwards. Often raised on three small feet, sometimes with a hoof or pad foot.
• Cream jugs. Small pouring jugs for cream, milk or sauce. Helmet-shaped, baluster-shaped, or plain cylindrical depending on the decade. Often the cheapest entry into hand-raised Georgian silver.
• Salts. Small open dishes for table salt, usually in sets of two or four. Trencher salts (square, hollow underneath) are the older style; capstan and bombe salts on three small feet are the mid-Georgian style; oval pedestal salts are the Regency style.
• Mustard pots. Small lidded pots with a hinged or removable lid, sometimes with a blue glass liner. Common from the 1770s onwards.
• Vinaigrettes. Small lidded boxes with a perforated grille inside, designed to hold a sponge soaked in scented vinegar. A specifically late-Georgian and early-Victorian form, especially common in Birmingham hallmarks.
• Vesta cases. Small lidded match-cases worn on the chain of a pocket watch. Strictly speaking, vesta cases are mostly Victorian; very late Georgian examples exist but are rarer.
• Snuff boxes. Small flat lidded boxes, often with engraved or chased decoration. A common Georgian form, frequently with a maker's name inside the lid.
• Flatware. Spoons, forks and ladles in Old English, Fiddle and Hanoverian patterns. Georgian flatware is often quite worn from two centuries of use, which is itself an authenticity indicator.

Why Georgian pieces almost never get melted

A Georgian silver piece by a recorded maker, in reasonable condition, with clear hallmarks, is almost always worth more as an antique than as scrap. The premium can be modest on a plain provincial cream jug and very substantial on a Paul Storr salt cellar. The point is the same in both cases: melting a Georgian piece destroys value.

For a charity shop this is the most important practical point. If a donation looks Georgian (hand-raised form, slightly uneven surface, four or five marks in a row including a duty mark for post-1784 pieces, a clear maker's mark in initials), do not price it on the shop floor at a few pounds. Send a photo on WhatsApp to 07375 071158 first. We will give an indicative read on the maker and the period, and if the piece is genuinely Georgian we will normally recommend it goes to a specialist auction rather than to us for melt. That is honest advice and it is the right outcome for the charity.

Where Georgian pieces do come to a melt buyer is when they are heavily damaged, cut down for repair, or missing essential parts (a teapot with no lid, a salt with the feet broken off, a tray with a deep dent and a tear). In those cases the antique premium has collapsed and the metal-content value is the right valuation. Indicative figures move with the market; the firm offer is set only after XRF assay confirms purity and weight, and the date, maker and style is verified.

Reading the five-mark Georgian hallmark

A late Georgian hallmark (1784-1837) reads as five marks in a row on the underside of the piece. The order varies slightly by assay office but the components are consistent.

• 1. Maker's mark. Two, three or four initials in a shaped surround. The cipher of the registered silversmith. Look this up in published Georgian maker indexes for identification.
• 2. Lion passant. The walking lion in profile. Confirms sterling silver. Style of engraving varies slightly across the period but the form is consistent.
• 3. Town mark. Leopard's head for London, anchor for Birmingham (from 1773), crown for Sheffield (from 1773), castle for Edinburgh, three sheaves with a sword for Chester, three castles for Newcastle, and others. Pre-1822 London leopard's head is crowned; post-1822 it is uncrowned.
• 4. Date letter. A single letter in a shaped surround, in the font of the cycle then current. Tells you the year of assay precisely.
• 5. Duty mark. The sovereign's head profile. George III in profile facing right (after 1784), George IV after 1820, William IV after 1830. Confirms duty was paid.

When to send a photo before posting

Send a WhatsApp photo for any donation that looks Georgian. Clear shot of the underside of the piece, plus a wider shot of the whole piece, plus a one-line note ("looks Georgian, has five marks in a row, maker's initials look like P.S."). We respond the same day with an indicative read on the period, the maker if recognisable, and a recommendation: post to us for metal valuation, or take to a specialist auction for antique valuation.

Where the recommendation is to use a specialist auction route, we are happy to suggest reputable auction houses that handle Georgian silver. There is no commission to us in that case; it is the right outcome for the charity. Where the recommendation is melt valuation (damaged pieces, unrecorded provincial makers, very late Georgian pieces of modest interest), we cover the parcel by Royal Mail Special Delivery up to £2,500, higher available on request before posting, and any item the charity declines is returned, free, tracked and insured.

Common questions

Related pages

• Charity partners (hub)
• For charity shop managers
• What silver is
• Silver flatware reference
• How to read a UK hallmark
• Victorian silver guide