Value My Stuff Blog

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British Silver Marks in the 19th Century

Four different marks were required for English Silver. It’s always useful to know about these as they help date and identify the origin of the piece. As a precious material, silver had to be marked (and still has to be marked), in order to prove that all taxes have been paid and that the quality of the material meets the standards.

1/ Sterling mark: shows that the silver has been tested and matches the standard of purity for sterling. This was the “lion passant” for London, Birmingham and Sheffield; thistle in Edinburgh; harp crowned in Dublin.

2/ Town mark: was a lion’s head full face for London, an anchor for Birmingham, a crown for Sheffield.

3/ Date mark: letter of the alphabet;

4/ Maker’s mark: usually these are the initials of the name of the maker.

Up to 1890, a fifth mark was required: the duty mark which featured the sovereign’s head in profile.

Market for antique silver

Fashions and ways of life have changed and people don’t use silverware as much as they used to. Silver requires frequent cleaning and one doesn’t necessarily see the point of using a 10 pieces tea set. It is however the perfect way to receive guests in an original and sophisticated manner. And it is now a perfect time to buy silver, as prices have dropped over the last decade…!

There are many auctions for silver throughout the UK where you can get a complete set of flatware at a fair price. Considering what it costs to get a new electroplated set of flatware (even not solid silver – electroplated is very expensive when bought new), it’s definitely worth considering buying at auction and getting something finer and less common.

In addition, unlike with antique furniture, silver is unlikely to be a bad investment at any stage, as it will always keep an intrinsic scrap value. One doesn’t necessary needs to purchase a whole set of flatware in one go and can perfectly mix items from different makers, as long as they are all the same pattern.