One of the keys to understanding silver holloware, is being able to decipher the manufacturer's marks on the bottom of the piece you are viewing. This should come as no surprise if you are a regular watcher of British Antiques Roadshow as Mr. Bowen is apt to do. Makers marks are common in sculpture, ceramics and jewelry.
The best the world over at doing this are the English. The love of sterling silver is in their DNA. Prior to around 1914, their pocket change was sterling silver, not the .900 fine that was popular in many countries. Their coinage was in fact .925. Typically, in American sterling silver, the hallmarks are few. Usually, a stamp with the word "Sterling" or a number of .925. Occasionally, their will be a manufacturers own date stamp as to when the item was made. Reed & Barton and Gorham did this. As I said, the English are the best at this.
When the English mark a piece of sterling, they tell you alot about it. The first hallmark of interest is the English Lion. This mark tells you that the piece is .925 silver. Another mark tells you the date the piece was manufactured. Another hallmark tells you where the piece was manufactured by means of a city mark. Finally, there is the hallmark of the maker itself. To give you an idea how serious the English are about this, consider how they mark an Albert chain (i.e. a watch chain). Each link of the chain has an English lion hallmark!
The English thoroughness in marking the various parts of a piece is very helpful to the consumer. It helps guarantee that the piece has all the original parts to it. Classic example is a colonial tankard. With all the flapping around of the lid over the years, they tend to get damaged. Sometimes the lid will be replaced with one from another era. The hallmarks give this away.
Their are other percentages of purity out there. Coin silver is just that, a piece made from melted coins. Usually this means .900 fine silver, but beware. Various countries used their own idea of purity. Even the English switched to a fineness of .500 after 1914. German silver is usually .800 fine. This is why it always important to examine a piece to determine exactly what it is. If it is an English piece, look for the mark of that regal beast-the lion.
