What symbol represents sterling silver in British hallmarks?

The Lion Passant (a walking lion with one paw raised) is the traditional British mark signifying sterling silver (92.5% pure silver).

How do I date a piece of British silver by its letter mark?

British assay offices used a rotating alphabet cycle (A through Z) inside specific shield shapes. The font style, case, and shield background determine the exact year.

British Sterling Silver 925 Hallmarks Identification Guide

💡 Key Takeaways (Quick Reference)

Lion Passant: Walking lion symbol signifying 92.5% pure Sterling Silver in Great Britain.

Town Marks: Leopard’s Head = London, Anchor = Birmingham, Crown/Rose = Sheffield, Castle = Edinburgh.

Cross Reference: Combine town marks with Gold Karat Stamps for mixed-metal pieces, Art Deco Rings, and Antique Cameo Mountings.

British silver hallmarking is one of the oldest, most structured consumer protection systems in history, dating back to 1300 AD. Understanding British hallmarks allows collectors and appraisers to determine exact metal purity, city of manufacture, year of assay, and silversmith identity.

The 4 Essential British Silver Marks

Standard antique British sterling silver carries four or five distinct stamped marks:

Maker’s Mark: Initials of the silversmith or manufacturing firm inside a distinct cartouche.
Standard Mark (Purity): The Lion Passant (walking lion) for Sterling Silver (925), or Britannia (seated figure) for 958 silver.
Assay Office Mark (City):
- London: Leopard’s Head (crowned prior to 1821, uncrowned after).
- Birmingham: Anchor symbol.
- Sheffield: Crown (prior to 1975) or White Rose (after 1975).
- Edinburgh: Castle symbol.
- Chester: Sword and three sheaves of wheat (discontinued 1962).
Date Letter: A single letter designating the year the item was tested at the assay office.

Close-up of four marks struck along a silver spoon handle: a maker's mark, a walking lion, a leopard's head and a date letter, with a scale bar beneath — The full sequence on one handle, 1802 — maker's mark, lion passant, town mark and date letter, struck in a line. Photo: Berkshire Archaeology, David Williams. Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

British Assay Offices & Symbols

City / Assay Office	Symbol	Era Active
London	Leopard’s Head	1300 – Present
Birmingham	Anchor	1773 – Present
Sheffield	Crown / Rose	1773 – Present
Edinburgh	Castle	1457 – Present
Chester	Sword & Wheat Sheaves	1701 – 1962 (Closed)

Seventeenth-century silver trefid spoon with a broad flattened handle end and a plain oval bowl — Trefid spoon, 1683–84 — the handle shape alone narrows the date before a single mark is read. Maker: Louis Nicolle. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (CC0).

Large oval silver wine cistern with lion mask handles and a gadrooned rim, standing on a moulded foot — On hollowware the marks are struck near the rim or under the foot. Wine cistern, 1709–10. Maker: Lewis Mettayer. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (CC0).

How to Read Date Letters

Date letters run in 20-year cycles (excluding letters I, J, N, O, Q, V, W, X, Y, Z depending on the specific office).

Font Style: Gothic, Roman Script, or Sans-Serif font styles differentiate cycles.
Shield Shape: The border shape enclosing the letter changes every 20 years.

Late seventeenth-century silver spoon with a rounded bowl and a slender tapering handle, the surface worn smooth from use — Spoon, 1670–90. Wear this heavy softens a struck date letter long before it erases the shield around it. Maker: Jurian Blanck Jr. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (CC0).

Distinguishing Sterling Silver (925) from Silver Plate

Many items marked EPNS (Electroplated Nickel Silver), Quadruple Plate, or Sheffield Plate are not solid sterling silver.

Row of six small struck marks on a spoon handle imitating a hallmark sequence, with the words SHEFFIELD PLATE stamped in a rectangle directly beneath them — Pseudo-marks on plate: the row imitates a hallmark sequence, but the line beneath it reads SHEFFIELD PLATE — and there is no lion passant. Photo: Billjones94. Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

Expert Advice: Solid British sterling silver will always bear the Lion Passant or Britannia standard mark alongside a town mark. If an item only says “SILVER”, “925”, or “EPNS” without town marks, it is either non-British or silver-plated.