Great Britain has an unique system of marking articles made of precious metals. Hallmarks are the symbols stamped on gold, silver or platinum articles to indicate that they have been tested at an official Assay Office and that they conform to the legal standard. With very few exceptions (such as size of the article), all gold, silver and platinum articles are required by law to be hallmarked before they are offered for sale in the United Kingdom. Hallmarking was instituted in England in 1300 under a statute of Edward I. The term "Hallmark" itself dates from the late 15th century. Unscrupulous assayers had been allowed to test metal at the goldsmiths' own shops and had been knowingly striking the standard mark on substandard metal. To curb this practice, in 1478 the law was amended to require all testing to be done at the guild office of the Goldsmiths' Hall. All smiths then had to take their work to the Hall to have it marked (hence the term Hall Marked).The law was last amended January 1, 1999 in order for the U.K. to be more in line with other European countries. The following examples and the discussion are current with these changes and only address the law as it currently affects silver.

Below is the hallmark which would be found on Bagpipe Silver fittings, with an explanation following:
The first mark is known as the Sponsor's Mark. This is the sponsor's mark of Bagpipe Silver, Inc. (originally Sterling Silver Company), and it has been registered at the Assay Office in Edinburgh. Every company which sells its precious metal product in the U.K. must register its sponsor's mark.
The second and third marks are the Standard Marks, which provide the assurance by the Assay Office as to the purity of the metal. .925 is the purity level of sterling silver as defined by statute.
The lion rampant is the pictorial symbol for sterling silver assayed in Scotland, and with the passing of the January 1999 changes, is now a voluntary mark on silver whether produced in the U.K. or imported into the U.K. (Articles assayed in England would show a lion passant, i.e. walking as the symbol)
The fourth mark is known as the Assay Office Mark and signifies which assay office tested and marked the article. The castle mark denotes the Edinburgh Assay Office. Each of the four current Assay Offices has its own mark: London - a leopard head; Birmingham - an anchor; Sheffield - a rose; Edinburgh - a castle.
The last mark is the Date Letter and it denotes the year in which the article was hallmarked. The lower case "a" is used to denote the year 2000. With the changes to the law which occurred in January 1999, this mark became voluntary, whereas previously it was required.

Because items have been hallmarked for hundreds of years, it is possible for antique buyers to identify the Sponsor, as well as where and when the article was hallmarked.

We comply fully with the hallmarking laws of the United Kingdom and are registered to have our articles stamped for sale there. If you are located in the U.K., rest assured that your silver will be properly hallmarked. For buyers outside the U.K. who want to have their silver hallmarked, we can have this done for you, for a slight fee which includes the charges by the Assay Office, shipping and insurance charges. Generally, they perform the hallmarking fairly quickly.
Hallmarking