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A small emblem identifying which office tested and marked the article.
Also known as: Town mark, Office mark, Anchor on silver, Leopard head mark
A leopard's head, an anchor, a rose or a castle. Each UK assay office has its own emblem, and it is the mark that makes the row a hallmark rather than a maker's claim — it says an independent body tested the metal.
An emblem identifying the assay office that tested and marked the article, and the mark that distinguishes a genuine hallmark from a manufacturer's own stamp.
Contexts: Jewellery
The four UK offices currently operating use a leopard's head for London, an anchor for Birmingham, a rose for Sheffield and a castle for Edinburgh.
United Kingdom
Offices that have closed — Chester, Exeter, Newcastle, Glasgow, Dublin and others — used their own emblems, so a town mark not among the current four indicates an article predating that office's closure and dates it accordingly.
Sheffield's rose replaced an earlier crown, which was used on Sheffield silver until 1975 and is a frequent source of confusion with the crown formerly used as the gold standard mark.
United Kingdom · Sheffield crown until 1975
A small emblem struck inside an outlined shield — a leopard's head, an anchor, a rose or a castle, depending on the office.
A fineness number is only a hallmark when an assay office mark stands beside it.