Antique English silver is one of the few items that comes with an almost iron-clad guarantee as to its age and maker, yet people frequently sell flatware (knives, forks and such) and holloware (tea services, pots and bowls) as English sterling when it obviously is not.

The English took their silver seriously, and to protect its integrity began requiring that a hallmark be placed on pieces in 1478, when London silversmiths were first required to datemark their wares.  To the uninitiated, English hallmarks appear to be a somewhat random combination of letters and figures in impressed boxes (called cartouches).  In fact, they are a highly sophisticated system of identifying the maker, year, city, and in some instances, that taxes were paid. 

It would be impossible to explain every hallmark, and indeed rather pointless.  There are books that explain hallmarks in depth, and websites that provide online identification of the hallmarks.  The point of this guide is to distinguish those pieces that are clearly English sterling, and those being sold as English sterling but are not.

Some sellers, who have simply not taken the time to learn about hallmarking, list items as English silver for reasons that seem perfectly reasonable to them, but are clearly, obviously and flagrantly wrong.  For the buyer, particularly the buyer who similarly lacks a background in identifying English silver, this may mean spending hundreds, and potentially thousands, of dollars for something worth a small fraction of what was paid.  Often, the buyer won't realize the error until the item arrives and he/she first starts researching his/her eBay "find".  Or, after telling a friend about his/her "steal", is informed that they were cheated.  Then, of course, tempers flare and accusations fly.  This helps no one and both sides are quite certain that they were maligned.  Since this scenario can easily be avoided, it's in everyone's interest to do so up front before the first blood is spilled.

And so, a few simple rules:

1.  Know the English Hallmarking System:  Every piece of English Sterling will be hallmarked with a lion passant (a lion on 3 legs with his right paw raised), a city mark (leopard for London, for example), a date mark (a single letter, either upper or lower case within a specifically shaped cartouche) and a makers mark (usually two to four letters reflecting the initials of the maker).  There may also be a duty mark, such as King George's or Queen Victoria's head, according to the year of the piece and whether a duty mark was required for that year.

2.  EPNS is Not English Sterling:  The letters EPNS on a piece of silver is not indicative of sterling, but of silverplate.  The letters stand for Electroplated Nickel Silver.  It means the piece was made after about 1840 and could have been made yesterday.  These pieces are not date marked, and cannot be specifically identified as to year of fabrication.  But they absolutely guarantee that it is not sterling.  Similarly, marks such as "A 1" reflect an absolute guarantee that the piece is not sterling, but is silverplate.

3.  It Tarnishes Like Sterling:  Electroplated silver has a thin coating of pure silver over a base metal.  It tarnishes like sterling because it is silver.  It just isn't sterling silver.  So whenever a seller makes a statement like that, it means absolutely nothing as to the silver content of the piece.  All silver tarnishes, but all that tarnishes isn't sterling.

4.  The Man Said...  Many sellers will state that they brought the piece to an expert jeweler who told them that it is English Sterling.  So what?  If a piece lacks the requisite hallmarks, then it isn't sterling.  And if the jeweler was such an expert, he would have known that.  Often, a person will bring a piece to a jeweler and will insist that the jeweler authenticate the piece as English Sterling.  The jeweler, knowing that the person isn't buying anything, or just wanting to get the person out of his shop as quickly as possible, will agree to anything the person wants.  The point is that the jeweler may well have said what the seller claims, but that doesn't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.  It is what it is, regardless of extrinsic claims.  If the piece has no hallmark, it is not English sterling.

5.  It Says Sterling:  If the word "sterling" is impressed into the piece, it is likely American sterling, and is definitely not English Sterling unless it also has the hallmarks.  English law does not permit the word "sterling" to suffice, and still requires the usual hallmarks.  While some English pieces, fabricated for export in the first instance, will also bear the word "sterling", the hallmarks will still be present on the piece.  In the United States, on the other hand, only the word "sterling" need be impressed into the piece to make it sterling.  So no matter how "Georgian" the piece looks, if it only bears the word sterling, it is not English. 

6.  Pseudo Hallmarks:  Because English law was so specific about the hallmarks required, a loophole was created that allowed makers of silverplate to use "pseudo" hallmarks to give the impression that a piece was English Sterling when it was not.  This game was played in both America and England to trick the unwary.  A piece will have markings that kinda, sorta look like English hallmarks, but not quite.  A seller unfamiliar with proper hallmarks may mistake these for real sterling hallmarks, and sell an item as English Sterling when it obviously is not.  In America, the venerable silver manufacturer Gorham adopted this ploy in its early hallmarks to make them similar to the English to enjoy the status of English Sterling when it was only American Sterling, at the time considered second rate.  The Gorham mark included a lion passant, the letter "G" in a cartouche and an anchor, the city mark for Birmingham.  Of course, because American sterling had no hallmarking system like England, it was all lawful and quite misleading.  Even today, people mistake old Gorham for English Sterling because of these marks.

I hope this helps both sellers and buyers to correctly and honestly identify English Sterling pieces, and to prevent people from mistakenly trading in pieces identified as English Sterling, only to learn that a terrible mistake has been made.  Best of luck in your hunt and enjoy the beauty of real English Sterling Silver.