silver hallmarks

[stevedetect]

hi All

can anybody help me with these hallmarks please

[billysilver]

I'm no hallmark expert but I know that The Lion Passant at the top indicates it's Sterling Silver, The Leopard on the bottom left indicates it was assayed in London. I would assume the calligraphic L is the makers/sponsors mark but I didn't know that such a style of makers mark was used, like I said I am no expert though.

I look forward to finding out.

Edited August 2, 2021 by billysilver
spelling

[KevinFlynn]

Walking Lion - Sterling Silver from England

Leopards Head (uncrowned) - from London, after 1820

L - from 1846

No idea on the makers mark though - is it an achor, in a pointed shield?

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by KevinFlynn

[billysilver]

This is interesting. Good to learn the calligraphic L indicates a date, the makers mark almost looks like the Birmingham assay mark no? Are there makers hallmarks that aren't lettered initials?

2 minutes ago, KevinFlynn said:

Walking Lion - Sterling Silver from England

Leopards Head (uncrowned) - from London, after 1820

L - 1846

No idea on the makers mark though.

 

[KevinFlynn]

Not an expert, I'm basically using this site I found one day 😁 Letters are used for dates, always the same letter sequence in different designs:

Makers marks are difficult because there are so many.

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by KevinFlynn

[badar]

I tried searching around for the little anchor shield to no avail. (As a makers mark)
 

Are there any other letters stamped outside the photographed area? 

@KevinFlynn has already done the heavy lifting on all the other marks.

[billysilver]

The closest I have identified so far on the makers mark is a company called Gorham, it's certainly not definitive but they do use the anchor in shield over several years and formations of the company, so I just thought I would add this information in case.

@KevinFlynn That is a great website and it's interesting to learn all these little intricacies of hallmarking that I had no knowledge of before, I knew the marks for the assay offices and the .958 and .925 marks but there is so much more to learn, quite an enjoyable little quest this is, very interesting.

The link for the Gorham marks and information is: www.silvercollection.it/gorham

[Subspecies]

I wonder if thats an import mark and not a makers mark. Most makers use letters ie. initials of their name.

[billysilver]

In Britain it's the case that makers use initials, in North America there are figural makers marks. Maybe this is also the case elsewhere but I don't know, it is the case for North America though.

I wondered if it could be an import mark but as far as what I have learned, import marks were not a thing until The Customs Amendment Act of 1867, since this piece is dated 1846 I had ruled that possibility out. I could be wrong though.

[Subspecies]

The lack of Queen Victoria's head lends me further  down the import mark theory.

[billysilver]

@Subspecies That's a keen observation. If it were the case that it is an import mark, would duty not be paid to customs when imported and therefore one would expect to find Queen Victoria's head or was duty not applied to foreign silver imported? Also, could there be a possibility that if it were a piece crafted by a North American company, imported without declaring and then hallmarked in Britain, is that a likely scenario? Finally, why would a piece have no makers mark but include an import mark, is that a common situation?

[billysilver]

I will also add that The Customs Act of 1842 ordered imported gold and silver may not be sold in Britain unless assayed by a British office. So the timing is right if it were a piece produced by an North American company, sold in Britain, it wasn't until 1867 that the import mark "F" for foreign was added to imported pieces that were hallmarked in Britain.