Tool
Hallmark identifier
Turn the piece over and find the row of small stamped marks. Pick the ones you can see, in order. The tool runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
1. Standard mark
Is it silver?2. Town mark
Where was it tested?3. Date letter
What year?Tables cover London and Birmingham from 1875, Sheffield from 1918, and every office from 1975. Chester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin are not in yet. All of them are provisional until checked against the assay office records.
4. Maker's mark
Who made it?How to use it
Turn the piece over and find the row of small punches. Read them left to right. If you cannot find a lion, a Britannia figure or a 925 in an oval, the piece is plated, and the tool says so. The EPNS entry has what the plate marks stand for and what plate is worth.
The date letter is the part that needs a table. The same letter appears in every cycle, so the office, the letter style and the shape of the shield fix the year. The tool filters cycles by the office you chose. It holds London and Birmingham from 1875, Sheffield from 1918, and the national cycles every open office used from 1975. Chester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin have no tables here yet, and the tool says so rather than guessing. Every cycle listed is provisional until it has been checked against the assay office records.
The maker's register is short so far. If the initials are not recognised, the makers' pages and the assay office registers are the next step.
What the tool does not do
It does not value the piece. That depends on the object, the maker, the condition and what similar pieces have made recently, which is what the price records and the hallmarks guide are for.