British Vintage Jewellery hallmarks from (1850s- 1970s)
ByPart four of AntiquesAvenue’s guide to Hallmarks on Vintage Jewellery and Antique Jewellery:
Gold brooch
Most of the Vintage and antique Jewellery we see today dates between the mid Victorian era and the 1970s so these are the most important Hallmarks to be able to read if we are looking at Vintage jewellery. The hallmarks during this time are complicated and often the jewellery has been worn and the hallmarks have become faint so they may be difficult to read. These hallmarks are for silver and gold only as Platinum was not hallmarked during this time. You can find the date letters, town marks and makers marks as well as the metal purity as hallmarks at this time.
GOLD (1854 to 1973):
- From the Middle ages until 1853 there were only two standards of gold 18 and 22 carat
- In 1854 the lower carats of 9 (.375), 12 (.5) and 15 (.625) were introduced
- Between 1854 and 1974 articles made of the lower carats were marked with their carat mark and value.
- 18 and 22 carat golds would have the carat mark and a crown hallmark in England and a Thistle in Scotland
- In 1932 the 12 and 15 carat golds were replaced by 14 carat (.585)
Silver Jewellery
Silver (Victorian times to 1973)
- There were just two standards of silver Britannia (.958) and Sterling ( .925) with sterling being by far the most common
- Britannia silver is denoted by the Britannia mark
- Sterling silver is hallmarked by the lion passant (England) and a Thistle ( Scotland)
There are all sorts of additional hallmarks and markings you can find on a piece of jewellery – Monarchs heads and special event commemorative marks for example. By the way if you see fine scratches in markings these are not hallmarks but identification marks made by various jewellers and pawnbrokers over the years.
If you find a piece of antique jewellery without hallmarks it may still be made of gold or silver but to be certain you need to get the metal tested and this is a skilled process which takes time to learn and care to carry out accurately.
The law changed in 1973 and is become quite a bit stricter and more uniform. I will discuss the hallmarks on more contemporary jewellery in the next part of my guide.
[...] British Vintage Jewellery hallmarks from (1850s- 1970s … [...]
[...] Hallmarks. You will need a magnifying glass or loup to read these. Refer to my article on hallmarking or look up the marks in a hallmark book. If the piece has genuine gold hallmarks then there is no [...]
I need help identifing the symbols on my grandfathers gold ring. It looks very old and has a crown, 22, sideways arrow with three marks inside, then either a fancy X or N. I would appreciate any assistance greatly as its the only thing I have of my family.
Thank you in advance
hi i have a siver locket which contains jg,a lion,nand an anchor on its side is there any value to this item?
Hi,
Sorry its not possible to tell from your description. If you would like to pop over to the forum at http://www.antiquesavenue.com/forum and post a question with more detail about the hallmarks and the item you may get some help
Hi guys its simon from down under,just a beginer and your site is well reseached.Ive inheritedsome old jewellry from russia and india.How old?thats what imreading your hallmark history,as well as leaning the stamps/history/region/period.
Thanx again~~REGARDS SIMON>
I have a 9ct gold heirloom with the markings ‘G & H’ on it and the letter ‘f’. can anyone help me date and/or identify this? thank you very much.
Hi
I suspect that G&H is the makers mark. I would need to see a good picture of the hallmarks to help further
Anne
Hi, i have a 9ct gold charm with the makers initial Z followed by LD but i am struggling to find what year the charm was made, i am guessing the captial letter B(in a square box) has something to do with it?
Hi Lyndsey
Yes the capital B in the square box could have something to do with a hallmark but it is not possible to date this accurately without the town mark – if you can send a clear & close up photo I will take a look for you
Anne
Hi Anne thank you for your reply, problem is i have tried to take photo’s but you can not make out the hall marks, i can see a leopard and 375 so it was made in london im just not sure what date it was made, many thanks.
Hi Lyndsey,
A capital B could be 1976 or 1937 or even as early as 1737. If you cant take a photo perhaps you could buy a hallmark book and look it up yourself. Bradburys book of hallmarks ( the paperback version) is quite cheap . Its published by the Sheffield assay office but I am sure your local book store could order you a copy
Anne
Hi Anne, i am thinking 1976 to be honest as the charm really doesn’t look that old, many thanks for your help.
Hi,
I would like to have some help please, i have come accross a large amount of jewllery, some of which i can read the hall marks on and some of which I can not, some of the items are vintage silver? i think, and would like to know what I should be looking at, i took it to a car boot a few bits to a car boot sale, all the items are very small and the people went mad, to try an by them, and one person told me that one of the items looks like silver, with little pasted diamonds and glass green and red flowers. i have some camios as well, and a have a chain and broach that is in the smae colour as ivory, how can you tell is something is ivory? as the items are all smnall is there any money content, I can take pictures and send them. Please let me know what else you need. thank you
Hi Brad,
Whilst I do not mind helping out with the occasional item clearly I cannot help with quantity as sorting out trash from treasure takes a lot of time and effort. I suggest that you take all of your pieces to a decent auction house who will normally be able to offer advice for free and will get a much better price for you than selling something you dont know about at a car boot sale. It is possible that some of your pieces are worth money – take a look at my website http://www.antiquesavenue.co.uk to see the sort of prices I sell small pieces of jewellery for.
Anne
Hi, I have a gold ring with a ruby and two pearls set either side of the ruby. The only mark I can see say 18ct. The are no other markings. The ring apears to be quite old as there are signs of wear. Is there any way of identifying a year or if this kind of mark is from another country other than the UK?
thanks, Vince
Hi Vince,
Sorry there is no way of identifying this further from the marks you have given. A good antique jeweller may be able to offer further advice if they saw the ring in person. Approximate age and area of manufacture can sometimes be determined from the cut of the stones and the way they are set into the ring.
As an aside , I am now closing this thread for comments as it is over a year old. If anyone needs help with hallmarks and identification of individual items I suggest taking your jewellery to your local auction house who will usually have a free valuation day.