The Mark You Almost Missed
Most people selling inherited silver, jewelry, or art have no idea that a tiny stamped symbol or a barely legible signature can be the difference between a $40 piece and a $400 one. Marks are the shorthand that craftspeople, governments, and artists used to identify their work, and learning to find them is one of the highest-return skills in estate clearing.
You don't need to become an expert. You just need to know where to look.
Silver and Metal Hallmarks
British silver is among the most consistently marked metal in the world. A full set of British hallmarks tells you the metal purity, the assay office that tested it, the year it was made, and the maker who submitted it. Each piece of information affects value.
Look for hallmarks:
- On the underside of flatware handles
- Inside the rim of bowls and cups
- On the clasp or back of jewelry
- Near the hinge of boxes and lids
American silver is less uniformly marked, but words like STERLING or 925 confirm solid silver. EPNS (electroplated nickel silver) means the piece has no silver content and is worth far less.
What the Numbers Mean
- 925 or Sterling: 92.5% pure silver
- 800: Common in continental Europe, lower silver content
- 18K, 750: 75% gold
- 14K, 585: 58.5% gold
- 375: 9-karat gold, common in UK pieces
Pottery and Porcelain Marks
Factory marks on ceramics can be a rabbit hole, but a few signifiers are worth knowing. Marks on the base of a piece often include a factory name or logo, a pattern name, a date code, and a country of origin.
"Made in Germany" generally means post-1887. "Made in Occupied Japan" places a piece between 1945 and 1952. These details matter to collectors.
Hand-painted marks, especially artist initials alongside a factory mark, add value. A signed piece from a known decorator at Rookwood, Moorcroft, or Royal Doulton can be worth multiples of an unsigned example.
Art Signatures
A signature on a painting is not proof of authenticity, but its absence is rarely a dealbreaker either. Many significant works were never signed, and many forgeries are very confidently signed.
What matters more:
- Provenance: any documentation of where the piece came from
- Labels on the back: gallery stickers, exhibition tags, auction stamps
- Consistency of the signature with known examples from the artist
Photograph the front and back of any signed work, including all labels and stamps on the reverse. That information is what a specialist needs to make an initial assessment.
Furniture Maker's Marks
Furniture marks are less standardized but still valuable. Look for paper labels, burned or stamped marks, and stenciled text inside drawers, on the back panels, or on the underside of seats.
American furniture from manufacturers like Stickley, Heywood-Wakefield, or Herman Miller often carries clear labels that confirm both maker and era. A Stickley red decal, for example, is specific enough to date a piece to a particular production period.
Getting a Mark Identified Quickly
Once you've found a mark, you need to know what it means. Reference books exist for every category, but they're slow and hard to use without training. Photographing the mark clearly, including any surrounding context, and running it through an AI identification tool like Tappraise can get you oriented in minutes, pointing you toward the right category and a reasonable value range before you decide whether a specialist is worth calling.
The mark is the starting point. What you do with that information is up to you.