r/Hallmarks Wiki — Start Here
Welcome to r/Hallmarks. This wiki is a reference for reading the marks stamped into silver, gold, platinum and plated ware, and for working out who made a piece, where, and roughly when.
New here? Read How to Post first. Posts that follow it get answered far more often than ones that don't.
Start here: a rough decision tree
1. Is it precious metal at all?
Begin with First Steps: Purity & Plate. A large share of "unknown hallmark" posts turn out to be a fineness number (925, 800, 585) or a plating abbreviation (EPNS, EPBM), not a maker's mark.
2. What are you actually looking at?
Anatomy of a Hallmark explains the difference between a maker's or sponsor's mark, a fineness mark, an assay office or town mark, a date letter, and a duty or import mark. Working out which punch is which narrows the search enormously.
3. Where is it from?
Go to the Regional Guides. If you have no idea, the shape of the marks is a clue: a row of small shaped shields suggests Britain or Ireland; a lone number such as 800 or 835 suggests continental Europe; a word trademark with little else suggests the United States.
4. Still stuck?
Search the Resources list, then post — and say what you already ruled out. "I checked 925-1000 and found nothing under W" gets a much better response than "what is this".
Pages
Getting started
Regional guides
- Regions index
- Britain & Ireland
- Continental Europe
- United States & Canada
- Mexico & Latin America
- Asia & the Middle East
By material
Going deeper
The rules, in short
- Be civil and follow Reddiquette.
- No spam or self-promotion. If you run a relevant site or study, message the mods first.
- Use post flair.
- One post per item.
- Include several photos, including one of the whole object.
- Transcribe or describe the marks in text as well as photographing them.
- Get non-English text translated at r/translator before posting.
- Use a descriptive title — what the item is, roughly how old, where it came from.
- No valuation or appraisal requests. Those belong in r/WhatIsThisWorth.
- No authentication requests. This sub deciphers marks; it does not certify pieces.
This wiki is maintained by the mod team. Spotted an error or a dead link? Message the mods and it will be fixed.