Letter 14003

Hallmarks? If this item Silver or Pewter?

1. What is it?
2. What do the hallmarks mean?

I have an odd piece of metal I purchased over Ebay from the U.K. There are several marks on the back. In order, left to right they are:
1. capital "W" in an oval
2.Capital "L," small "d" with underline in oval.
3.anchor in a square
4. lion standing, facing left, in a rectangle
5.looks like a small "q" in a rounded square

I looked up British hallmarks.
The anchor and lion seem to be Birmingham.
The "q" seems to indicate 1915, or the capital "W" may indicate a different year.

I wonder if this item is silver or pewter. It is hard to smell and I do not want to taste it at this time due to polishing agent.

A general description is: Looks like it might be a bookmark or dress clip that one simply places over the page or edgeline of a clothing item.

The front is round with 4 leaves and 4 fleur-de-lis cut out from the solid circle, and touching the outside circle. All designs look incised.

At the bottom of this ring are two "connectors" at about 5 pm and 7 pm. There are protruding circles at this point on the circle and each protruding circle has a "chain ring" for want of a better work. I hope someone can help!

Do I have a piece of junk or a treasure from the past!

Thanks,

Jane K
- South Charleston, WV, U.S.A.

Hi,

The lion in rectangle means its sterling silver (92.5% silver), Anchor refers to its city of manufacture, Birmingham England, and the capital W refers to the year and that's 1871. The L and q refer to the silver-smith but I don't know who that is......

Ian
- Ireland

I have come across a coffee server with creamer and sugar with lid. The markings on the bottom are a number that I believe would be the date, which is 1908. Also, has K S co. The co is a capital c with the o inside of it. There is a logo or hallmark of a man's head and shoulders with a hat that looks like a tri-corner hat worn in days of old. I have searched the web endlessly under pewter and silver and finally found your site and am hopeful that you will be able to help me.....Thank you in advance

Ruth H
collector - Niagara Falls, New York, U.S.A.

For those actively seeking websites in hopes of finding pewter touchmarks and/or silver hallmarks, since the Google search engine will inevitably bring you to this site at some point, I would highly recommend running a simple search under the words "silver hallmarks." The first site that turns up under it is an excellent resource for making both silver and pewter identifications.

Linda Talley
- Bellingham, WA US

Thanks, Linda!

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey

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