American Silver Marks
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 |  Printer Friendly
American silver marks were not required to include any actual Assayer’s marks. This seems to have been a direct socio-political statement in keeping with a clear split with Britain and Europe. Subsequently, American silver hallmarks and jewelry marks developed into single logos or initials & names of the actual silversmith, studio or factory. Obviously Silver hallmarks were used in America during its early period of silver production, when most imported silver items came from Europe and particularly Great Britain, and these marks are known as English silver touchmarks. American silversmiths and retailers imitated the silver marks that resembled those used in Britain, and so became known as “pseudomarks.” Although they started off as deliberate variations of the original English Silver Hallmarks, they developed in their own right into real and authentic early American Silver marks.
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