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• Alloys,
Hallmarks, Housemarks, and Makers' Marks •
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Normally, if an object is solid silver it will be indicated on the piece. Examples are: Sterling, 925, 925/1000, 900, Coin, Standard, 9584 (English Britannia), 800 (Germany), 84 (Russia), etc. This is a great resource for all silver fineness marks. Most American-made objects are marked on the bottoms of holloware and on the reverse on flatware. Foreign-made objects can be marked most anywhere and are sometimes accompanied by additional marks applied in the country's assay office(s) which tests the quality of the precious metal during its manufacture. A 10x loupe may be required as some stamps are incredibly small, such as those from France. Rarely will you find a piece made of solid silver that isn't stamped. If an object isn't stamped, a non-invasive identification method is by judging tarnish color. Silverplate will exhibit a blue-purple hue, where solid silver will exhibit grey-black. If you cannot determine if an object is solid silver empirically, please contact me. A magnet is a handy tool and can be used to identify iron in an object, such as silverplated carbon steel knife blades. Hallmark: A mark or series of marks stamped or laser-engraved by a country's assay office indicating the quality of the precious metal tested (e.g., Sterling, .925, .840, .800, or an image of a rampant lion – indicating sterling as used in Great Britain). The object may also contain the country, maker's mark, housemark, duty mark, import mark, etc.
Typical Set of British
Sterling Hallmarks
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information on hallmarks can be found here. Housemark: A mark stamped or laser-engraved by the company (e.g., Gorham, Reed & Barton, Tiffany, Kalo) that created the object for its own line or for a retailer (e.g., Shreve, Crump & Low, J.E. Caldwell Co.). In addition, there may also be a maker's mark, indicating the company's craftsman who created or oversaw the creation of the object. The below example identifies the object's maker as Gorham Manufacturing Company from Providence, RI; the metal quality (sterling); and the object's design number (A2150).
Maker's Mark: The name or artistic mark stamped, engraved, or laser-engraved on an object created by an individual silversmith or jeweler. The below mark is mine. This particular piece was raised from a flat sheet which is why there is a center mark between my name and sterling.
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