London’s leopard’s-head hallmark: the oldest assay mark and how to read it

Why London and why a leopard

The Goldsmiths' Company, founded to regulate the goldsmiths’ trade, runs the London Assay Office. Its hallmarking role goes back to a statute of 1300, which set the standard for gold and silver wares and required silver to be marked with the leopard’s head. In 1478 a permanent assay office opened at Goldsmiths' Hall, and the Company’s own history says that is probably where the word hallmark comes from: a piece marked at the Hall.

For a charity shop the practical headline is this: a leopard’s head, in any of its variants, is the London Assay Office identifier, and it tells the volunteer which office tested the piece. It does not on its own tell you the metal or the date. Those sit in the marks next to it.

Selling a piece with a London leopard’s head?

If the piece is your own rather than a charity donation, send a photo of the whole piece and a close-up of the marks on WhatsApp first. We read the leopard’s head, the purity number and the date letter, and tell you whether the piece looks worth more intact than for its metal. Nothing needs posting until you have our reply. If you do post it, each item is XRF-tested and you receive a dated written offer; you are paid by bank transfer only if you accept, and a declined parcel comes back free. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.

GoldPaid serves customers in London by post using a prepaid Royal Mail label. You do not need to visit a shop. Selling gold in London by post covers the local questions. For what you have: selling gold jewellery, selling broken or scrap gold, and how selling gold by post works from anywhere in the UK.

WhatsApp a photo of the marks

No WhatsApp? Call 07944 014111, 8am to 9pm.

The leopard’s-head variants over the centuries

The leopard has changed shape several times. A volunteer does not need to know every engraving, but recognising the two broad eras helps a manager date a piece roughly before any further reading.

A crowned leopard’s head on a piece in the donation stream is a strong signal of manufacture before 1822, which on a piece of silver hollowware or a gold ring can lift the donation well above metal-melt value. The shop should set the piece aside and send a clear photo on WhatsApp 07944 014111 before any decision is made. The Goldsmiths’ Company history of hallmarking records the crowned leopard’s head from 1478 and the loss of the crown in 1822.

Why London hallmarks cluster in southern England

Jewellers in London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and the south-east historically sent work to the London office for assay because it was the nearest office. A charity shop in Brighton, Tunbridge Wells, Guildford or central London is more likely to see leopard’s-head marks than a shop in, for example, Wolverhampton or Newcastle. This is a tendency rather than a rule, but it is one a sorting team can use.

A shop in the Midlands will see more Birmingham anchors, a shop in Yorkshire will see more Sheffield roses, and a shop in Scotland will see more Edinburgh castles. None of this changes the metal value of the piece. It does, however, change the rough frequency of what a volunteer should expect to find. A leopard’s head in a Sussex donation pile is unremarkable. A crowned leopard’s head in any pile is worth a second look.

The marks together: what to read alongside the leopard

A UK hallmark is read as a group. Three marks are compulsory: the sponsor’s mark, the fineness mark and the assay-office mark. The date letter was compulsory until 1999 and is optional now, and a traditional symbol (a crown on gold, a lion passant on sterling silver) may also appear. On a London-assayed piece the leopard’s head is only the assay-office mark; the others tell you what the piece is.

• Maker’s mark (sponsor’s mark). At least two initials of the maker or sponsor, in a shaped surround. Usually stamped first, on the left of the mark line.
• Fineness mark. A number in parts per thousand: 375, 585, 750, 916, 990 or 999 on gold, 925 or 958 on silver. The shape around it shows the metal: a rectangle with its corners cut off for gold, an oval for silver. On older English silver the lion passant does this job. This is the mark that tells you what the metal is.
• Assay-office mark. The leopard’s head for London. Anchor for Birmingham, rose for Sheffield, castle for Edinburgh.
• Date letter. A single letter in a shaped shield, telling you the year of assay. Optional since 1999.

A volunteer who can spot the marks together can sort a pile in minutes. A volunteer who can read the date letter can flag a Georgian or Victorian piece before it goes to the floor. A short cross-reference to the umbrella hallmark guide is the right next step once the leopard’s head is identified.

The date-letter cycle

Until 1975 each UK assay office ran its own alphabet of date letters. A new letter was used each year, and at the end of a cycle the office started again in a different font and shield shape. London’s cycles ran for twenty letters, A to U with J omitted. The combination of letter, font and shield outline is what fixes the year. Two dates simplify modern pieces. Since 1975 every UK office has used the same date letter in the same year, so a post-1975 letter reads identically whether it sits beside a leopard, an anchor, a rose or a castle. And since 1999 the date letter has been optional, so a recent piece with no date letter at all is not suspicious; the maker simply chose the three compulsory marks.

A charity shop volunteer is not expected to memorise every cycle. The practical workflow is simpler: identify the letter, then send a clear photograph on WhatsApp 07944 014111. We can read the cycle from the image. The reason this matters is that a Georgian or early-Victorian London-assayed piece can be worth several multiples of its metal value, and a quick check before any cleaning or pricing protects the donation.

Gold purity marks before and after 1975

Before 1975 the purity mark on UK gold depended on the standard. 22ct and 18ct gold carried a crown with the carat figure, 22 or 18. The lower standards introduced in 1854, 9ct among them, were marked with figures showing their actual fineness, and 14ct replaced 15ct and 12ct in 1932. Since the Hallmarking Act 1973 took effect in 1975, every gold standard has been marked with a three-digit number in parts per thousand (375, 585, 750, 916), inside a rectangle with its corners cut off.

For a volunteer this means a modern London-assayed gold ring shows the sponsor’s mark, the fineness number and the leopard’s head, often with a crown and a date letter. The older convention is easy to recognise once seen: a mid-century 9ct ring typically reads '9' and '.375' side by side, while a ring marked since 1975 carries '375' alone in a single outline. A piece with the carat figure and the decimal fineness side by side is likely to be pre-1975. That does not change the metal value, but it helps with rough dating.

How a London hallmark looks on different items

The leopard’s head turns up in different positions depending on what the piece is.

• Rings. Inside the band, usually next to the maker’s mark and the fineness number.
• Chains and necklaces. On or near the clasp, often on a small soldered tag rather than the chain itself.
• Earrings. On the post or the back of the setting. Smaller marks, often partly worn.
• Brooches. On the back, near the pin mechanism. Larger marks, often very clear.
• Cutlery and hollowware. On the back of a spoon or fork stem, or on the base of a tankard or candlestick. Often the most complete set of marks you will see.
• Pocket-watches and watch cases. Inside the case back, sometimes alongside the case-maker mark and an English movement-maker mark.

When the leopard’s head is the only mark visible

On worn, repaired or partially polished pieces a volunteer may see only one or two marks clearly. If the leopard’s head is visible but the fineness number is not, the piece is still worth setting aside. The leopard’s head alone confirms that the piece was assayed by the London office, and the fineness can usually be inferred once the piece is XRF-tested on arrival. Two tricks help at the sorting table. Tilt the piece under a desk lamp so the light rakes across the surface at a low angle; a mark invisible face-on will often jump out in relief. And use a 10x jeweller’s loupe rather than a household magnifying glass; the extra magnification is usually the difference between a smudge and a readable letter.

If only the maker’s mark and the leopard’s head are visible, that is also a useful pair. The maker’s mark can sometimes be cross-referenced to a known sponsor, which dates the piece roughly even without the date letter. Send a clear photograph on WhatsApp 07944 014111 before posting and we will read the marks together.

What happens after a London-hallmarked piece is set aside

When a London-assayed piece is in the gold-pile bag, the shop manager (or head-office contact for a multi-shop charity) sends a photo on WhatsApp or phone 07944 014111. We give a rough estimate on the day and send a free Royal Mail Special Delivery prepaid label, usually within 30 minutes during working hours. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. Above that we split the consignment across more than one prepaid label at no charge. The shop posts the parcel at any Post Office counter and keeps the receipt.

The parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where each item is weighed and XRF-tested for purity, then priced under GoldPaid’s separate charity terms against the live gold market on the day of valuation. The hallmark guides the sorting; the XRF test sets the offer. A written itemised offer goes back to the charity’s head-office contact. If the charity accepts, we aim to send payment to its registered bank account by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market. If declined, every item is returned, free, tracked and signed for. How XRF testing works is explained separately.

A 60-second briefing for a volunteer

If a new volunteer is joining the sorting table, this is the briefing that gets them useful on London-hallmarked pieces in a minute.

1. 1. Look for a small leopard. Full-face animal in a shaped shield. Crowned (before 1822) or plain (later).
2. 2. Find the metal stamp. 375, 585, 750 or 916 on gold; 925 or a lion passant on silver. This tells you the metal.
3. 3. Note the date letter. A single letter in a shaped shield. Do not polish before checking it.
4. 4. Bag and tag. Set the piece aside in the gold or silver bag. Do not put it on the floor.
5. 5. Photo before posting. A clear close-up on WhatsApp 07944 014111 for an indicative read.

Sources

1. The Goldsmiths’ Company: the history of hallmarking, checked 11 September 2026
2. Assay Offices of Great Britain: hallmarking guidance notes (PDF), checked 11 September 2026
3. Business Companion (Trading Standards): hallmarking, checked 11 September 2026

Common questions