madfranks
28th October 2010, 01:21 PM
I have recently been studying old English silver hallmarks so I can better identify old silver when I see it. They didn't stamp "sterling" or "925" on silver back then, they used a series of hallmarks to identify the piece.
http://www.sellsilver.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/sellsilver3.jpg
On English silver, the lion passant (walking lion) is the symbol for sterling silver (925). Scottish silver before 1975, like gold, bears a thistle mark. The lion passant was retained in the Hallmarking Act of 1975, but the Scottish thistle was changed to a rampant lion.
I recently found an ebay auction for an old flask, and the owner didn't know it was silver, but I recognized the hallmarks on the pictures he posted. I ended up winning the flask for $104, plus shipping rounded my total costs to $110. I got it in the mail yesterday, and sure enough, there are three of the lion hallmarks (on the base, the body, and the cap) designating the whole piece as sterling silver. I weighed the flask and it came in at 187 grams, which is just over 6 troy ounces of sterling, or 5.56 troy ounces pure silver. At the current silver price of $23.95, that puts the metal value of the flask at just over $133!
The "C.C" on the pictures below is the maker's mark which stands for Colen Hewer Cheshire; the shield hallmark is the assayers mark for Chester, England and is a shield bearing the town’s arms, a sword and three sheaves of wheat; and the "C" designates that the piece was made in 1903.
http://www.sellsilver.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/sellsilver3.jpg
On English silver, the lion passant (walking lion) is the symbol for sterling silver (925). Scottish silver before 1975, like gold, bears a thistle mark. The lion passant was retained in the Hallmarking Act of 1975, but the Scottish thistle was changed to a rampant lion.
I recently found an ebay auction for an old flask, and the owner didn't know it was silver, but I recognized the hallmarks on the pictures he posted. I ended up winning the flask for $104, plus shipping rounded my total costs to $110. I got it in the mail yesterday, and sure enough, there are three of the lion hallmarks (on the base, the body, and the cap) designating the whole piece as sterling silver. I weighed the flask and it came in at 187 grams, which is just over 6 troy ounces of sterling, or 5.56 troy ounces pure silver. At the current silver price of $23.95, that puts the metal value of the flask at just over $133!
The "C.C" on the pictures below is the maker's mark which stands for Colen Hewer Cheshire; the shield hallmark is the assayers mark for Chester, England and is a shield bearing the town’s arms, a sword and three sheaves of wheat; and the "C" designates that the piece was made in 1903.