I brought this silver clothes brush a few years ago from England. I was checking the hallmarks recently and they don’t make sense. Please see attached photo. The maker BMC Ld is stamped on it, and I cannot find this silversmith anywhere. The year letter is not correct for the time period when Britannia was used. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Sandra
The makers mark is a valid one. BMC Ld is the British Metallising Co Ltd and the actual mark you have appears to be from 1928 to 1933. Their address was Queen Victoria Street, London EC4. They did manufacture dressing table sets.
The Britannia mark is valid since it still used, even in these modern times. It shows that the silver is 958 i.e. 95.8% silver whereas 925 is 92,5%. The britannia was a standard from 1697 until 1720 in order to control the melting and clipping of coinage.
The date of the brush looks to be 1929.
Keith,
Thank you so much for the information it was extremely helpful and cleared up my confusion with the hallmarks.
Since we’re talking about the B.M.C. co, does anyone know when this mark was used? I also have no clue if this is silver plate or solid silver. I’m betting plate, but I really have no idea. I know it’s kind of strange in the fact that it has some unusual beading around the edge.
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Brent