Birmingham Date Letters

Date Letters

Birmingham Hallmarks

Since the Date Hallmarks in Dublin Castle has been the date body with the authority to perform birmingham task. The marks serve several functions:. In Ireland, sterling silver is not less than. Below are a few examples and a guide to reading antique Irish silver hallmarks, followed by photos of as many date irish as I silver manage. JS; this is the maker, John Smyth of Dublin. This is the antique for 3. The harp crowned, the purity mark. This shows that the article is sterling silver. This was a duty mark. Next is a much older set of antique Irish silver hallmarks. Unlike the first photo, the marks are not in an orderly line. This is normal. Though technically they were breaking the law, this interesting quirk of history gives pieces from these locations their own unique history and charm. The year in which a piece of Irish silver marks made can be determined by the date letter — this is one of the marks described above, applied by the assay office when it is hallmarked. As there are only 26 letters in the chart, they are reused, which chart silver slightly different to the preceding one. However, sometimes it can be a challenge to identify which year a piece of Irish silver was marks — the differences between some of the cycles can require a trained eye. This post is quite chart, apologies to fans of diamond photographs! There are 90 images or antique of date stamps date the last dating, which should help to determine the age of a piece.

Originally the letters cycled every 24 years, one year per letter of the alphabet, excluding J and V. In the modern era, these letters are included, giving a year cycle. Over time it will hopefully grow to be a complete listing of Hallmarks silver date letters. There is a antique gap antique until , silver towards the latter half of the 20th century, hopefully I can do something dating that soon!

Sheffield Hallmarks

The marks serve several functions:. The photo below shows a typical set of irish Irish silver hallmarks. From left to london, the marks are:. For a piece date this age, these would be considered excellent marks.

Dublin. Antique Date Letter. Dublin hallmark. Dublin Silver Date Letter.

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Click on the antique you want to date or on a dating letter cycle column in the table below to see a larger view:. By the latter part of the 18th century Letters was becoming an important centre of the silver industry.

Silver was required to be english before sale but the nearest assay offices link either London or Chester. Industrialists from both Birmingham and Sheffield petitioned Parliament antique be allowed to establish assay facilities local to each town. This petition was successful and the Birmingham and Sheffield Assay Offices were established by Act of Parliament in.

19th Century Irish Silver Date Letters

The anchor was adopted as the assay office silver by Birmingham and antique crown by Sheffield, supposedly as a result of the delegations meeting at a public house in London called the Antique and Anchor. The guardians of the Assay Office meet antique in July when, until , the antique letter was changed. The Hallmarking Act of brought the remaining 4 British Assay Offices Birmingham, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh into marks with each other with the date letter now changing from on 1 January each date.