Silver Hallmarking
A method of identifying and attributing silver items
Antique silver items often have assay marks — impressions confirming the composition of the precious metal and authenticity. In Russia and European countries, the hallmark contains information about the fineness, year of issue, sometimes the workshop or city of production. Fineness is the quantitative silver content in the alloy, for example 84 (Russian) or 800, 925 (European).
There are often renowned masters whose initials in the hallmark are valued by collectors. Special attention is paid to hallmarks from the period of Tsarist Russia, where even the position of letters affected the value!
Interestingly, in England the shape of the hallmark was changed after every 25 years to avoid counterfeiting and confusion.
For antiquarians, the hallmark is a real passport of the item; deciphering it reveals its history, geography, and one can even wonder if Pushkin did not have it on his desk.