Understanding Silver Hallmarks

A silver hallmark is not the same as a silver maker's mark. Both of these markings give information about a silver object, but they are not interchangeable. The information you get from a silver hallmark is not the same information you get from the maker's mark on an object made of silver.

A silver hallmark can tell you about how much metal is in a piece of silver. A silver hallmark can include a maker's mark. However, a maker's mark is not a hallmark. Confused yet? Keep reading.

Hallmarks originated in Great Britain with the Goldsmiths' Hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London. To this day, this group keeps a record of British hallmarks. Hallmarks are impressions made into a metal object to indicate the quality or purity of the metals it contains. In some countries, a hallmark also has a symbol to indicate the place and date of assay as well as the maker's mark.

In Europe, countries such as England and France have used silver hallmarks since the 14th century. In the United States, however, silver hallmarks have not been used the same way they were in Europe. A requirement that silver be marked was put into place in 1906. But silver was marked with words, such as coin, standard, or sterling, rather than numbers in the European custom.

For example, in France, silver jewelry made from 1838 to 1961 bore the mark of a boar's head. The boar's head was an indication that a piece of silver jewelry had a fineness of 800 or higher. And this was in Paris. If you were outside of Paris during that time period, you'd be likely to find that silver jewelry was marked with a crab marking.

The primary information in a silver hallmark deals with the purity of silver. The assay and maker's mark are separated piece of information. A maker could mark a silver object even if there was not silver hallmark. This is why a silver hallmark and a silver maker's mark are not the same thing.

If you have silver jewelry that came from another country, it may be difficult for you to accurately determine just how much it is worth before you sell silver. This is why you should consult with an expert silver buyer. Don't sell it at a yard sale. Take it to a silver buyer. When it comes to selling silver, you want to take it to a silver buyer who can recognize its worth and compensate you with an adequate amount of cash for silver.