CARE OF SILVER

Silver is no harder to keep clean than any other item in the home. If used on a fairly regular basis silver polish is not needed. Silver normally takes many weeks to tarnish.

The old days of using numerous products such as ammonia and whitening to keep silver clean are now not necessary. There are specially manufactured impregnated cloths and gloves that make cleaning silver quick and simple.

In addition there are various products on the market for cleaning silver and the dealers would be happy to recommend and advise.

HALLMARKS

There has been a quality control of goods made of silver since the 14th century and the organisation that regulates the craft, Goldsmiths Hall, has given England and the world the term "hallmark".

Every piece of silver made must be sent to the Assay Office for testing to ensure that it is of the required standard of sterling silver and, provided it conforms to that standard, a series of symbols are stamped on to each separate part of each article which today, and for the last several centuries, can show the place and year of manufacture, as well as who made or sponsored the item. With the help of a pocket-sized hallmark book and a little bit of explanation from someone who knows how to "break the code," it is great fun and also a way of perhaps finding a piece that was made in a year or city that might hold particular relevance and provide the perfect gift or commemorative item.

The law imposed on silver hallmarking is very strict and if the standard does not comply the article will not be hallmarked and probably destroyed.

A false hallmark has always been treated with the utmost severity within the law. Historically, a silver smith was pilloried for their first offence and they would be pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables. If they offended again, a limb would be hacked off and, until the 1720's, the death penalty was the sentence meted out to persistent offenders. The reason for this seemingly Draconian behaviour was that the manufacture of silver and gold was allied to the minting of currency. Therefore, by debasing these metals one was, in effect, undermining the coin of the realm, which was a treasonable offence - the ultimate quality control!

The Hallmarks

The Britannia Standard Mark

From 1696 to 1720 the standard of silver was raised from 92.5% to 95.8% pure. It was denoted by the figure of Britannia and the ‘lion’s head erased’.

The Lion Passant

Sometimes called the Sterling Mark, the lion passant, the mark for ‘made in England’, first appeared on English silver and gold in 1544. For two years it was crowned, but has been struck ever since in its present form, with minor variations, by all English Assay Offices.

Assay Office Marks

The Sheffield Rose (formerly Crown)

Used from the inception of the Assay Office in 1773 , the Crown was the town mark of Sheffield. Because of possible confusion with the Crown mark used after 1798 as the hallmark for 18ct gold the mark was changed on January 1st 1975 for a rose which had incidentally, been used as the gold mark of Sheffield when the Assay Office there was entitled to test the mark gold after March 1st 1904. Between 1708 and 1853 the crown is often incorporated with the date letter struck on small objects.

The Birmingham Anchor

When the Birmingham Assay Office was established in 1773, largely due to the representations of the great Midlands industrialist, Matthew Boulton, the mark of an anchor was adopted as the town mark. By tradition, it is said that Birmingham and Sheffield tossed for the marks derived from the sign of the Crown and Anchor tavern in London - where the promoters of the two new offices met. On the occasion of the Assay Office’s bicentenary in 1973, Birmingham struck a special anchor with a ‘C’ on either side of the stock, to indicate two hundred years.

London Leopard’s Head

The first hallmark to be used was the leopard’s head, in the year 1300. In that year, a decree by Edward I laid down that silver or gold could not be made or sold unless it was marked by the leopard’s head or ‘The King’s Mark’ as it was then known. This mark became ‘crowned’ in 1478 and remained ‘crowned’ until 1821. Since 1821, the uncrowned leopard’s head has remained as the distinguishing mark of London.

Edinburgh Castle & Thistle

Scottish hallmarks have been regulated by statute since 1457 but the earliest known example dates only from 1556 – 7. The Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh was thought to be in the 1490’s and the earliest surviving records date from 1525.

Dublin -- Hibernia and Harp

The hallmarking of Irish silver began towards the middle of the 17th century. The mark of origin is the Harp Crowned and it appears with a date letter and maker’s mark. In 1731, the figure of Hibernia was added.