Hallmark H-E-L-P!

British Silver Reading Silver Hallmarks
1

HELLO EVERYONE-GREAT SITE YOU HAVE HERE

im new to collecting sterling/silver, and need some help identifying some hallmarks, and have a couple of questions

firstly, i recently purchased this sterling cigarette case on ebay. IMHO i got a very good price on it ( $100.00)…it weighs exactly 7 1/4OZ on my precious metals digital scale ( i generally collect gold, and i am a gold prospector. the scale i have is very accurate…in silver weight at todays price its worth about $94-$95 in silver bullion weight )

the piece doesnt have the traditional “button” type release to open it, the case halves silde sideways of each other about 1/4 inch and the case pops open. the interior is guilded gold. here are a few of pictures

now, my question is this. i know that the anchor and lion mean , but i cant find any information on the specific style of “A” in the photograph

every single piece on this item is hallmarked , incluuding the piece that originally held the cigarette’s down. under the cigarette hold down strap, there is another mark, a stamped “B” on the half that has the cigarette hold down strap.

plus, if you look closely, this piece had a hallmark removed before the interior was guilded. i know its not very visible, but the gold interior is polished so brightly that i cant get a good photo

why would the maker remove a hallmark?..even with a 40X loope, i cant make out what the hallmark was.

anyway, any help you can give me on identifying the maker, year,etc would be greatly appreciated

2

i found a spot on the net and dated it 1950, but why woulkd the makers mark be removed, and whats the b?

3

wow

i guess this wasnt a site thats to active afterall

4

We’re antiques dealers! We’re not in a rush! If you worked a bit more slowly, you might have better spelling!

Anyway, you are right about the date of the piece.

Regarding the rubbed maker’s mark…

The legally required hallmarks are the standard mark, the town mark and the date letter (and sometimes a duty mark). These marks were/are applied by the government at an assay office. The maker’s mark was optional and was applied by the maker. Because the maker might not strike his mark with the same force as the marks applied at the Assay office, it is common to find pieces where the makers mark appears either more or less visible than the other marks.

If you look at the sterling mark (the lion), you can see that the detail is gone. This kind of wear, on such a young piece, suggests that the piece has been professionally polished by machine on the inside. My guess is that the maker’s mark was not struck as firmly as the other marks and was simply lost in the polishing process, rather than purposefully removed.

Hope that helps // Jonathan