Almost all marks on almost all antique and collectible silver and silver plate, were applied with stamps. Unique, individual or custom marks—such as serial numbers, order numbers, artists marks, hallmarks, etc.
Larger marks with several lines or large symbols, could be struck by hand or a machine press. Most marks on silver plate, regardless of the size of the mark, were mostly struck by machine presses because the base metal was heavier and stronger than solid silver.
Complex marks, like the Tiffany example previously discussed, may include both standard company marks found on all pieces, as well as unique marks for individual pieces such as an order number, pattern number, date letter and others.
If this sounds like a lot of work, it was. It also involved a great deal of highly specialized equipment. Fortunately, most forgers don't have the time or the money to duplicate original vintage marks so they take shortcuts. The most common shortcut is to cast, or mold, a mark rather than stamp marks.
If you make a single mold with an old appearing mark, every piece made in the mold will carry that mark. That process saves both the time it would take to stamp a mark on each new piece as well as the expense of the stamps and other necessary equipment.
Some of the most common cast forgeries of old marks in the market today are found on figural napkin rings. Cast, or molded, marks almost always lack the detail found in stamped marks. Cast marks tend to be shallow with ragged or blurred edges and uneven in depth of impression. Original stamped marks are just the opposite: clean sharp edges with an almost perfectly uniform depth of impression. Several examples of new molded marks are shown next to the original stamped marks in Figs.
At the current time, faked cast marks are more commonly found on new silver plate than silver. Pieces of silver with fake marks tend to be found on simply shaped objects easily cast as a single piece. These include thimbles, brooches, tussie-mussies, charms, needle cases and other similar pieces. The biggest danger in detecting new molded marks is to stop your examination after you have matched a suspected mark to marks in a reference book.
Molds made from originals produce copies with original appearing marks. You must examine how marks are made as well as how the mark reads. This is especially important if your original mark is a line drawing and not a photograph. As a practical matter, it is almost impossible to remember all the names, forms and variations of silver marks. General line dealers and casual collectors can probably avoid most mass produced silver fakes in today's market by following the guidelines on page These short tips highlight the basic differences in how new and old marks are created and applied.
On this and following pages are examples of marks frequently seen on new silver. Most of these marks contain obvious features such as size, lack of detail, a convention mark, or the standard mark, that will help you easily identify pieces as new.
Keep in mind genuine marks on 19th and early 20th century silver and silver plate vary considerably in appearance and new marks frequently change. Many of these marks appear in areas where no logical normal wear would occur. Blurred marks can be a sign of a cast, not stamped, mark. All marks, whether standing alone or combined with other symbols as the above example, are very nearly a guarantee of a reproduction.
The standard mark was very rarely used in vintage American silver. It was not widely used until the European Community EC adopted it in the mids. The standard mark above is smaller than the diameter of the lead in the wooden pencil shown for comparison. Any mark under one-sixteenth of an inch is suspect. Virtually without exception, authentic marks on vintage silver and silver plate were stamped, not cast.
Reproductions, particularly new silver plate, are generally cast in molds. Since new molds are usually made by copying originals, marks on originals are usually transferred to the new molds.
Cast marks are almost always blurred with impressions of uneven depth. Stamped marks are generally much cleaner and sharper than cast marks. The oval tab marked shown here is soldered on a new rattle. Some authentic Victorian-era silver-plated pieces do bear applied discs with the manufacturers name.
However, even those discs should be examined very carefully. Most countries in the world have strict guidelines and standards regarding the ratio of silver and other metals in sterling silver , and Stamping on jewelry is not a new concept at all. It has been a tradition since ancient times to ensure the purity of valuable metals. Typical 19th Century Russian Hallmarks. Petersburg, Image Courtesy of the Hallmark Research Institute.
Portuguese Hallmark with Deer and. According to the Lang Antiques , to understand the slightly complicated jewelry stamping system, you need to know the common hallmark types jewelers use as standards:. These stamps are codes for various information regarding the style and manufacturing technique of a particular piece.
Purity Marks. A purity mark in a silver jewelry piece indicates the percentage of silver in it. The use of the stamp "sterling" As the name suggests, these hallmarks refer to the maker of the jewelry.
It could be a trademark, logo, a special designer signature, or the company name of the manufacturer. A company may use one or all of these stamps to label its products.
Some brands use unique serial numbers for every piece of jewelry they make to prevent forgery. Also, all companies must follow the jewelry stamping guidelines set by their respective countries.
Date Letters. Until , the date letter hallmark was a requirement for all gold and silver jewelry made in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the hallmark letters was to refer to the assay master who was in the charge of stamping. The date letter these days refers to the timing of assaying. However, modern jewelers hardly exercise this practice.
Town Marks. Like the date letters, this stamping type is a story of the past. In the late middle ages, some countries introduced this hallmarking system. It contains the stamp of the region or town where the jewelry piece is manufactured. For example, Birmingham's stamp is an anchor while a crown indicates that the piece comes from Sheffield. Europe: Hallmarking jewelry pieces in Europe originated from the ideal of protecting the consumers from buying fake pieces.
Frauds used silver colored inexpensive metal and sell it to gullible people. The United Kingdom: The British had a very organized system of stamping precious metals.
How things are done largely depends on the office and origin. Sterling silver is one of the best materials around when it comes to ring construction. Those that are made of fine silver are generally fine pieces made as pendants or earrings. Many people are opting for sterling silver as the base metal of rings these days.
Armed with this information only one question remains: how do you choose the right sterling silver ring for yourself or your beloved? Well, it might be easier than you think. Why not take a look at our guide today? Want to learn more? Sales of sterling silver engagement rings with cubic zirconia stones sometimes referred to as temporary or placeholder rings have skyrocketed in recent years as more prospective grooms seek to eliminate the risk of buying the wrong natural diamond gemstone ring.
Read more about silver with fake diamond rings. Here is five reasons why silver engagement rings are on trend for and beyond. Upon noticing a green tint to their finger some readers ask, does silver turn your finger green? Read the linked article to find out!
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Frankly and this Site make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you are affiliated with this page and would like it removed please contact pressreleases franklymedia. Press Release. Photo From luxuria. Many wonder. To discern between the marks used in those towns a new mark was introduced, the town mark. The assay mark of Birmingham, England is an anchor which is not very logical as Birmingham does not have a port, nor is it located near a sea or other open water.
Today the Birmingham assay office is the largest assay office in the world and one can find many items that have been struck with this town mark. In some systems, such as the Dutch hallmarking system, the combination of the town mark with another mark indicated the purity of the precious metal from which a jewel or larger item was made.
In France, it was customary to have a purity mark for Paris and another one for items made in the provinces departments , the latter were sometimes individually distinguished by a numerical. Designer Marks are marks that are stamped on jewelry to indicate the designer. In addition, some pieces that were made in the Art Nouveau period carry designer stamps.
Tally Marks are sometimes found on USA and British items to indicate the journeyman who actually created the piece. Duty Marks may be struck on items to indicate that taxes have been paid on domestic jewels.
Import and Export Marks may be struck on items to indicate that taxes have been paid or that items were exempt from taxes. Patent and Inventory Numbers usually take the form of long numbers and in conjunction with other marks or stylistics, they can aid in the dating of jewelry.
A firm that almost always stamps an inventory mark is the famous French jeweler Cartier. Boucher, a USA firm, patented many jewelry designs from the s through the s and their patent stamps are usually depicted as a sequence of numbers.
When a maker chooses to mark such an item with a purity mark either in pictorial of numerical form , the maker is responsible for the accuracy of the alloy with some tolerance.
It was not until that a responsibility mark became mandatory on jewelry with purity marks. This mark can be in the form of a trademark or the family name of the maker in full.
A maker is not required to stamp a purity mark on the articles, but when he or she does the act provides for the legislation. As the act does not mention any lower values of purity, one can find marks of any fineness on jewelry, although 10k and 14k are most common.
For items made from silver, the sterling alloy is most ordinary. Typical Hallmarks from the USA. On jewelry objects made in the USA before circa , it is not common to find any marks.
Up to , the legal standards for gold were 18ct and 22ct. In these standards were broadened with 15ct, 12ct, and 9ct. In the 12ct and 15ct standards for gold were abolished in favor of the 14ct mark.
For Scotland and Ireland, the marks and standards are marginally different. Although all jewelry with some exemptions is thought to require a full array of stamps, jewelry was usually — prior to — exempt from hallmarking with the exception of wedding and mourning rings. The full array should also include a date letter and an assay office mark and these were struck at the request of the purchaser.
The date letter is made non-compulsory as of In a pictorial mark in the form of an orb was introduced as a purity mark for platinum. Many makers in the USA use pictorial trademarks that resemble English hallmarks and care must be taken not to confuse between the two. These American marks are not considered pseudo marks. This is especially true for large silverware.
These three marks are the most prolific on French jewelry. Although the French law requires all gold jewelry to have a minimum purity of 18 karat, items that are intended for export may be marked with the pictorial marks for 9k and 14k. French Export Mark from to One can find the purity marks on any, seemingly random, place on a jewelry item but there are strict regulations on the positioning of these marks.
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