EPNS (Electro-Plated Nickel Silver) Marks: How to Identify and Date Them

The letters 'EPNS' (or 'EP', 'EPBM') stamped into the underside or back of an item, indicating a base of nickel silver alloy electroplated with a thin layer of pure silver; it never appears alongside a British lion passant hallmark because it is not solid silver.

• 1840s onward: Electroplating of silver onto base metal is patented by Elkington & Co. of Birmingham, superseding older techniques like Sheffield Plate and French plating; nickel silver (copper/nickel/zinc alloy) becomes the standard base metal for this process.

• EPNS pieces can be mistaken for solid sterling silver by inexperienced buyers because both can look similar once polished, but EPNS has no real silver content in its base metal.

The base alloy under EPNS plating (nickel silver / German silver) contains no actual silver itself -- the silver is only in the thin plated surface layer.

Turn the piece over and light the mark from a low angle with a lamp or phone torch, which throws the impressed or engraved lines into relief; a printed or painted mark wants soft, even light instead. Fill the frame with the mark, then take a second shot of the whole piece. Do not clean tarnish off silver before photographing; the mark reads better dark. The app matches the mark and shape to the notes above.