Crown Mark on Silver: Sheffield, Germany or Plate

A crown stamped on silver is one of three quite different things, and which one it is depends entirely on what is punched next to it.

• A Sheffield town mark. If the crown sits in its own shield alongside a lion passant, a letter and a set of initials, it is a British hallmark and the piece was assayed in Sheffield before the mid-1970s.
• Part of the German national mark. If the crown is domed and arched and sits with a crescent moon and a number such as 800, it is the German national silver stamp.
• A manufacturer's device on plate. If the crown sits with words such as EPNS, A1, quadruple plate or a firm's name, it is decoration that borrows the look of a hallmark. It carries no assayed guarantee.

The rule that sorts them is simple: a genuine assay crown never travels alone. It is always one punch in a group, and one of the others will state the metal standard.

Sheffield is the reason most crowned silver exists. There has been an assay office in Sheffield since 1773, when local silversmiths joined with Birmingham petitioners to ask Parliament for hallmarking facilities, and the resulting Act empowered Sheffield to use a crown as its town mark. The office itself repeats the story that the Birmingham and Sheffield men met at the Crown and Anchor inn off the Strand in London and each took one of the signs, while adding that whether this is true is unknown.

After 1904, when Sheffield was finally allowed to assay and mark gold as well as silver, the office ran two emblems: the crown for silver and a rose for gold. Then, following the Hallmarking Act 1973, Sheffield lost its crown for silver after 200 years and used the rose on both metals.

That gives the crown real dating power. A crowned Sheffield mark places the assay between 1773 and the mid-1970s. A Sheffield rose on silver places it after that change. If you can read the date letter as well, you can usually narrow it to a single year, as set out in English silver hallmarks and date letters.

The second common crown on silver is German and looks nothing like the Sheffield one. It is the imperial crown, domed and arched, and it is paired with a crescent moon, usually facing left. Together they form the national silver mark that came into force on 1 January 1888, replacing dozens of older regional systems.

What the pair guarantees is a minimum, not an exact figure: the mark certifies that the piece meets or exceeds 800 parts silver per thousand. The actual standard is given by a separate number struck beside it, most often 800, though 835, 900 and 925 are all found. German law required the national mark, the fineness number and the maker's device, so a properly marked German piece shows three things, not one.

The practical consequence: a crown with a crescent and an 800 is continental silver of a lower standard than sterling, not a British hallmark and not plate. For the fuller family of continental numbers, see 800 and 830 continental silver marks.

Electroplated goods carry crowns constantly, and none of them is an assay mark. No assay office hallmarks plate, so a crown on plated ware is a device the manufacturer chose.

The habit began in the nineteenth century as the electroplating trade grew, and it was deliberate: a row of small shields containing a crown, a letter and a device reads, at a glance and upside down in a drawer, very like a British hallmark. Victorian and Edwardian plate is full of these arrangements.

The giveaway is always the accompanying text. Look for:

• EPNS, EP, EPBM, A1, AA, triple plate, quadruple plate, silver on copper or nickel silver. Any of these settles the question.
• A full company name spelled out. Assay punches are initials and symbols, not trading names.
• Sequential pattern numbers stamped in the same style as the crown.

Who made these pieces is often recoverable, because the plating firms marked their work heavily. See silver plate company marks.

Turn the piece over and look for three things in order.

First, count the separate punches. A British hallmark is a group of three to five, each in its own outline, struck by hand at slightly different depths. A German mark is a group of three. A plated mark is often one long stamped line.

Second, find the standard. A lion passant means sterling. A crescent beside the crown with a number means continental. Words spelling out a plating grade mean plate.

Third, photograph the base before you clean anything. Light the mark from a low angle so the punch walls cast shadows, fill the frame with the marks, then take a second photograph of the whole object. Photograph it and the app identifies it; use the group of punches in your own photograph to decide which of the three crowns you have.