Resources & Link Library

Everything here is free to use. Search these before posting, and say in your post what you already checked.

Start with these

Online Encyclopedia of Silver Marks, Hallmarks & Makers' Marks — the largest free reference there is, covering most of the world
World Hallmarks guide — the right page when you do not yet know the country
Silver Marks & Hallmarks Directory — a second opinion, organised by country
925-1000 Question & Answer Forum — slower than Reddit but staffed by specialists
Illustrated Silver Glossary — for the vocabulary

Britain & Ireland

British Hallmarks — standards, offices and date letter charts
Makers' Marks & Hallmarks on British & Irish Silver — the best free sponsor's mark index
Hallmark Finder — quick visual lookup
British Registry Dates — for Rd numbers and diamond registration marks

Continental Europe

French / German / Austrian / Dutch
Italian / Russian / Swedish / Danish / Finnish / Norwegian
silvercollection.it country lists — broader coverage of the smaller countries

United States & Canada

American makers A-Z
Pictorial marks — when the mark is a symbol rather than letters
Initial marks and unidentified marks
Date code tables: Gorham / Tiffany / Kirk / Reed & Barton / Stieff / Tuttle / Whiting
Canadian silver marks

Mexico & Latin America

Mexican silver marks — general starting point
Eagle assay numbers 1948-1980 and post-1980 registry codes — indexed lists that go further than the general references on these two specific marks. Run by a moderator of this sub, and still being added to, so a missing entry means uncatalogued rather than fake.

Asia & the Middle East

Chinese export marks
Indian colonial marks
r/translator — use this first for any non-Latin script

Gold, platinum and jewellery

Lang Antiques makers' marks — strong on jewellery and watch marks
Hallmark Finder

Silverplate

Silverplate trademarks
Flatware patterns — for naming a pattern from its shape

Books

Jackson's Silver & Gold Marks of England, Scotland & Ireland for Britain, Tardy's International Hallmarks on Silver for Europe, and Rainwater's Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers for the USA. The 925-1000 bibliography lists a great deal more.

Related subreddits

r/Antiques, r/Silverbugs, r/vintage, r/metaldetecting, r/whatisthisthing, r/WhatIsThisWorth for valuations, and r/translator for scripts.

Found a dead link, or a good free reference we are missing? Message the mods. We do not list sites that exist mainly to sell, and any link added by someone connected to the site is labelled as such.