Hallmark Identifier

CHAPMAN - there is only one true money. Gold. Chapman Gold.

Welcome

Sources. The punch images shown in the results are engravings from Sir Charles Jackson’s English Goldsmiths and their Marks (1921), made from the assay offices’ own copper plates and now in the public domain, together with our own photographs of gold-struck marks as we add them. Jackson engraved from silver plate: the letter and the town mark are the same on gold, and the surround of a letter struck on gold can differ. The date-letter tables themselves were checked against the reference work collected over many years at silvermakersmarks.co.uk, with thanks; it remains the finest photographic reference for British hallmarks anywhere and is well worth your time.

Hallmarks are tiny, and decades of wear can leave them faint. That is completely normal and no reflection on the piece.

Get your phone out and zoom the camera right in. That is all most people need, and it works far better than you would expect. If you happen to own a jeweller’s loupe or a magnifying glass, even better, but you do not need to buy anything to do this.

Can't make out one of the marks? Skip that step, we'll tell you what we can from whatever you CAN read.

1

Mark Count

Find the row of tiny marks. How many marks are in the row?

2

Fineness

What number do you see?

3

Assay Office

Select the assay office mark (including historic offices where relevant):

4

Date Letter

Identify the date letter. This step carries forward the assay office selected previously.

Assay office:
5

Sponsor's Mark

The initials in the shaped shield or oval - these identify the sponsor who submitted the piece.

Identification Results

Whatever you could or couldn't read, we can finish the job.

Would you like this sent to you?

We will email you the punch photograph and a short dating note for the piece, so you have it with the jewellery. Free, and you do not have to buy anything.

We use your address for this and nothing else. How we handle your details.

Identification needs just one quick photo: the marks, sharp and zoomed in, daylight if you can. Selling is a different job with its own six-shot standard, and the Sell page walks you through it.

That is an offer to buy, priced off the metal and the piece. It is not a valuation. We do not value what we might buy.

Members can buy, sell to us by post, and watch the live gold value of pieces they own.

Do you need a proper valuation, or a certificate?

A written valuation for insurance or probate, or a certificate for a diamond or a coloured stone, is expert work and it should not come from the person who might buy the piece. We send it to Birmingham Assay Office.

● Jewellery valuations: insurance, probate and commercial

● Diamond, gemstone and jewellery assessment

These are Birmingham Assay Office's own services, at their own charges. We provide the link free and earn nothing from it.

Chapman Gold Ltd is registered with Birmingham Assay Office. Our sponsor's mark is EEC. Where a piece we sell needs a UK hallmark, it is sent to Birmingham to be tested and marked.
THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE MONEY. GOLD.
CHAPMAN GOLD.
chapmangold.co.uk

This identifier is for gold. The four current assay office marks are shown as drawn in the British Hallmarking Council's Hallmarking Guidance Notes. Historic and closed office marks have no verified image yet and are shown as a placeholder. Date letter punch photographs are from silvermakersmarks.co.uk, used with permission: the letter is the same on gold and silver, the surround on a gold article may differ.