Successfully Selling Silver on eBay - report Two - Hallmarks, Maker's Marks, Standards, and More

(Warning: This report is long and reading it may heighten your quality to make money on eBay)

In report One I discussed the opportunities for savvy eBay sellers in the growing investor shop for ancient and collectible silver. The many types of marks on these goods can be confusing, however, often resulting in poorly described listings. One can be assured that at least 30% of the 12-15,000 weekly listings in the 'Antiques-Sterling' kind will have inaccurate or misleading descriptions. The resulting buyer blurring and uncertainty causes poor selling prices, lost sales and distributor credibility issues.

In this report eBayers will learn how to recognize and understand the many dissimilar marks and where to research them. With this background sellers can write pro descriptions in their eBay auctions, eBay shop and other selling venues. Properly identifying and listing silver items gives sellers credibility and an edge over the hundreds of uninformed sellers in this competing market.

Think of it this way - if one were going to get into the car selling enterprise he or she should know as much as potential about makes, models, engines, performance, etc. Right? The same thing applies to selling silver goods. The marks tell the story behind the piece i.e., the maker, age, origin, history, quality, pattern, etc. understanding marks will growth the sellers' Roi because they come to be best buyers as well as resellers.

Identifying and Deciphering Silver Marks - The list below provides the basics for studying the many marks and and metal types. For supplementary research and education there are many perfect reference books ready for both beginners and experts. I've in case,granted a short list of suggested books at the end of the article. Understand that many reference books are narrow in their scope i.e., specific to obvious time periods, countries, etc. For this think one should purchase only one or two books which cover a wide array of marks from many makers and countries. As feel is gained by listing and selling silver one can build a good reference library. For online research there are any perfect websites that are contributed to and used by collectors and dealers worldwide. I've associated one of the best sites at the bottom of the article. pro valuations and appraisals are also ready for those who want a quality listing but don't want to research marks.

Those who are just beginning into silver sales need to be very rigorous not to misinterpret marks. As stated above, one-third of the eBay sellers incorrectly list and tell items because they've learned just enough information about marks to be dangerous. Often these erroneous sellers think because there is a lion, crown, or anchor mark on their item it is English sterling when, in fact, it is silverplate bearing a pseudo mark. Just today I saw a new seller's auction of a creamer and sugar bowl set that she listed as English sterling made in 1903. In reality it was American silverplate circa 1877-1880. She plan the pattern number, 1903, was the date it was made and that the lion in the trademark meant English sterling. This is just one example of many that make sellers look bad and limit their chances for a profitable sale.

Use Knowledge As A Selling Point - After properly researching the marks on the merchandise one can accurately title and tell the listings. Items can be guaranteed to be as claimed because the distributor has enough belief to do so. This gives credibility to the distributor and the merchandise which will draw smart investors and collectors to the auction. The consequent will be strong bidding performance and higher sale prices.

Use Accurately Identified Marks for search Optimization - For example, a distributor identifies a piece as Danish and made by Georg Jensen circa 1909-1914. When used to keyword the auction title and report this information will be a magnet for high-end collectors . This translates into bigger profits. Which of these two titles works best? "Antique Silver Bowl with Hallmarks" or,"Beautiful Georg Jensen Art Nouveau Sterling Centerpiece c.1909-1914". The second one of course. This is naturally using strategic keywords in the title which gives life to the listing.

Okay, so what's to learn? There's plenty. The following is just the short list, but with this foundation a distributor can build their road to success as an master silver dealer on eBay and other venues.

Things You Must Know:

• Hallmarks - Just about every eBay distributor misunderstands this. specific to precious metals, a hallmark is defined as a mark or series of marks struck into the metal that officially authenticates the metal purity (fineness or content) and which is internationally recognized as a guarantee of purity. Ebay sellers oftentimes confuse hallmarks with maker's marks, logos, enterprise trademarks, and uncomplicated whole marks such as 925 or 835. While such whole marks are used to indicate purity or article they are never to be determined as hallmarks unless they are accompanied by the official approved mark of the country of origin. Why? Because anyone can fraudulently charge these numbers into the metal without official assay. Hallmarks are the official marks of guaranteed metal purity in precious metal items. Trademarks and maker's marks are naturally the mark of the maker of the item. Think of it like the karat marks on gold jewelry. If a ring says Cartier 18K, the hallmark is the 18K, not the maker's name, Cartier. It guarantees the ring has a gold purity of 75% and it is recognized worldwide. Silver hallmarks work the same way, there's just a lot more of them than there are for gold.
• Country Marks - practically every country requires official nationalized marks or symbols to be used as the hallmarks for their precious metals standards. Probably the best known of all is the Lion Passant used by England to guarantee sterling since the 14th century. There are far too many country marks to list here but you can research them in the online reference sites listed at the end of this article.
• City Marks - A mark or fastener used in many countries to denote the city where the item was made. The leopard head representing London and the anchor representing Birmingham are two of the best known and most commonly seen on eBay. Again there's too many to list but they can be researched in the reference guides listed below.
• Maker's Marks - These are the registered names, initials, trademarks, logos, brands, symbols, or other marks used over any centuries by silversmiths and manufacturing companies to recognize their wares. There are as a matter of fact hundreds of these worldwide. You will ordinarily find these struck or imprinted onto an inconspicuous place on the item along with the hallmark and other marks.
• Date Marks - Also called Date Codes, these are unique symbols, characters, letters, or numbers used by some well known manufacturers as a means of dating the output year of their merchandise. These are cataloged and are very beneficial in accurately dating many items. Unfortunately many companies didn't use date marks which makes accurate dating of their work impossible.
• Pseudo Marks - These marks were created by silversmiths to mimic the well known and long established British sterling hallmarks. These smiths typically made silverplate items and silver items of lesser purity than sterling. The marks were intentionally designed to give a perception of sterling quality about their work in order to profit on the reputation and renown of British sterling. This does not necessarily mean they were all practicing fakery, though some as a matter of fact were. In fact, many pseudo marks are as a matter of fact registered trademarks of reputable firms which compose in sterling, coin and silverplate. For example Gorham, a extremely respected American sterling and silverplate maker, incorporated the Birmingham anchor mark into their maker's mark. Much of the 19th century Chinese export silver also bears pseudo marks on some very high quality 800 and 835 approved marked goods. Pseudo marks are often mistaken for British sterling hallmarks so buyers and sellers alike must be able to recognize them. This is one of the main reasons why research is so significant to thriving selling.
• Pattern Numbers - These are possession numbers which are often found along with the hallmarks and maker's marks. These are used by the maker for patent registration, pattern identification and list control.
• Sterling - Sterling is defined by the U.K., the U.S. (refer below*) and most other nations as an alloy containing at least 92.5% pure silver. The other metal in the alloy is copper which strengthens the metal for fabrication into usable and ornamental wares. The word sterling comes from 14th century England. The sterling approved in Great Britain and elsewhere has been 92.5% (925) fineness since that time.
• 925, 0.925 or 925/1000 - This whole is often found stamped into silver items. It represents sterling when accompanied by the official approved hallmark of the country of origin. The presence of this whole on an item does not guarantee it to be sterling unless the official country hallmark is also present.
• "Solid Silver" - This is defined by the U.S. Government (refer below*) as an alloy containing at least 92.5% pure silver which means it has to be sterling. It is illegal in the U.S. To relate any stock by this name that is not sterling silver.
• "Coin Silver" - This alloy gets its name from 18th and 19th century American silversmiths who melted down silver coins in order to compose items to sell. Typical items were silverware and other table assistance wares. The U.S. Government defines this to be an alloy of 90% (900) purity (refer below*). Many items with less than 90% purity are oftentimes and illegally sold as "coin silver" in the U.S. On eBay and in other venues.
• Continental Sterling - This is a misleading term used by some who sell European made items which have purity standards less than 92.5%. Similar terms used are Russian Sterling, German Sterling, French Sterling, etc. All of which are marked with official national standards that are less than 925. Continental Silver is the accurate way to tell European goods in case,granted the official hallmark and assay mark are gift to authenticate the actual purity.
• Silver Standards - In the U.S. The standards are pure (.9999%), sterling and coin (refer below*). In the U.K. The standards are britannia (95.8 % purity) and sterling. Britannia was used exclusively in Britain from 1697 to 1720 and has been elective since. Other countries have their own sets of official standards. Typically, but not without exception, these are 950, 935, 925, 900, 875, 850, 835, 812, 800, 750, and 675 purities as determined by official assay. These numbers relate the decimal fraction (percentage) of silver article in the man-made item. For example, an item marked '800' is 80% pure. 950 and 935 can be legally referred to in the U.S. As sterling, regardless of the country of origin, but the lesser standards cannot. 950 is sometimes referred to as Martelé Silver. Note: In the U.S. It is a federal crime to import, sell, label, advertise, or otherwise relate any item as "sterling" or "solid silver" which does not have a purity of 92.5% or greater (refer below*).
• Loth Numbers - This was a numerical principles used in Austria-Hungary and Germany-Prussia in the 18th and 19th centuries for authenticating official assays. It is based on a purity of 16/16. So that 15/16 is 15 Loth equaling .937 purity, 14/16 is 14 Loth equaling .875 purity, 13/16 is 13 Loth equaling .812 purity, and so on. Most of the ancient silver from these countries found listed on eBay is 13 Loth and, as noted above, it is often misrepresented as German Sterling. Austria-Hungary used this principles until 1866 and Germany-Prussia until 1886.
• Zolotnik Numbers - These numbers are found on Russian silver items going back any centuries. The root of this principles began in the 11th century with the Russian gold trade. A lot of ancient Russian items are auctioned on eBay and other venues so it is leading to know some basics. The numbers are based on 96/96 being pure. What is sold mostly on eBay is the more tasteless 84 Zolotnik, or 84/96 which equals 875 (87.5%) purity. 88 Zolotnik is 88/96 or 916 purity and so on. A tasteless question with the 84 mark is mistaking obvious types of French silverplate for Russian 84 Zolotnik. One way to tell the contrast is the French silverplate mark will have either a 'Gr' or 'G' after the 84 which represents grams of silver used in the plating process. Also the Russian 84 Zolotnik will always be accompanied with one or more official marks and a maker's mark in Russian Cyrillic letters. If an item is claimed to be Russian and it bears on the whole 84, then think it to be fake or plate.
• Silverplate - This is a very thin layering or coating of pure silver over a base metal. The most tasteless base metals used are copper, brass, nickel-silver, white metal, and Britannia metal (see below). The two types of silverplate are Sheffield plate and electroplate. Sheffield derives its name from Sheffield, England where it originated. The technique used was a 'sandwiching' of a layer of base metal between a top and bottom layer of pure silver. The metals were wrought or rolled until the two metals were bonded. Thus the base metal was 'plated' and could then be used for manufacturing. Electroplating was invented in 1805 but didn't come into favorite use until 1840. This is an electrolytic process whereby molecules of silver are deposited onto the surfaces of a sheet of base metal until the desired coating or thickness is achieved. Because electroplating is quick and not labor intense practically all plating was done this way by 1860 which doomed the Sheffield plate method. Today Sheffield plate is prized by collectors due to its superior hand-wrought quality and ancient value. There are any dissimilar quality grades of electroplate/silverplate. These are based on the thickness of the plating resulting from the whole of silver used. The two tasteless types of Victorian Era silverplate are triple plate and quadruple plate. You will see a lot of these types auctioned on eBay. The key thing to know about silverplate is that it has no significant silver weight, thus there is no precious metal value associated with it. The shop for silverplated items is based on rarity, uniqueness, ancient qualities, craftsmanship, and compose qualities only.
• Sterling Silverplate - There is no such thing! This report is often used by eBay sellers who don't know anyone about silver or who are keyword spamming to growth clicks on their listing. Because sterling is an alloy it is unsuitable to use as a silver source for plating.
• E.P.N.S. - You will see these letters marking the bottoms of many older American and British silverplated items. This stands for Electro Plated Nickel-Silver. Many novice eBay sellers and those who don't bother to do any research mistakenly list E.P.N.S. Items as sterling. tasteless variations on this are E.P., E.P.C. (Electro Plate on Copper), E.P.W.M. (Electro Plate on White Metal), E.P.B. Or E.P.B.M. (Electro Plate on Britannia Metal). Just know that any item marked with E.P. Is silverplate and as such has no precious metal value.
• Nickel-Silver - This is a tasteless base metal alloy consisting of nickel, copper and zinc. There is no silver in it whatsoever. The name was coined because the metal is silvery in color and polishes to a shine. Other names used for the same metal are: Alpacca or Alpacca Silver; Brazil Silver; German Silver; Peru Silver; New York Silver; New Silver; Nevada Silver; Norwegian Silver; Silverite; Venetian Silver; Potosi Silver; and Sonora Silver to name just a few. Many population have been stung buying things like old German Silver ladies purses thinking they had something of real value. Nickel-silver is strong and durable but it doesn't have any metal value.
• White Metal - This is a silvery colored alloy ordinarily containing a blend of antimony, tin, lead, zinc, and cadmium. In the U.K. The British fine arts trade uses the term 'white metal' to tell all foreign items which do not have official British Assay Office marks struck on them.
• Britannia Metal - an additional one non-silver base metal similar to pewter which is favorite because it is durable and polishes to a silver-like luster. This is an alloy of 93% tin, 5% antimony and 2% copper. Not to be confused with 958 Britannia from Great Britain.

The hundreds of known marks and their meanings are complex and often confusing. The information you've received in this report should growth your understanding of what many of the marks represent. You can now build upon these basics to come to be an informed buyer and reseller with a gigantic edge over your competition. Thanks for following this report series and please watch for report Three: A Focus on British Sterling.

Suggested Reference Books:

1. Kovels' American Silver Marks by Ralph and Terry Kovel; Random House Reference, 1st Ed., 1989. Isbn-13: 978-0517568828
2. Dealer's Guides: English Silver Hall-Marks by Judith Banister; Foulsham Publishing, 2004. Isbn-13: 978-0572029999
3. Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers by Dorothy T. Rainwater, Martin Fuller and Colette Fuller; Schiffer Publishing, 2003. Isbn-13: 978-0764318870
4. American Silversmiths and Their Marks: The Definitive (1948) Edition by Stephen G. C. Ensko; Dover Publications, 1983. Isbn-13: 978-0486244280
5. All About ancient Silver with International Hallmarks by Diana Sanders Cinamon; Aaa Publishing; 1St edition, 2006. Isbn-13: 978-0978516802
6. Discovering Hallmarks on English Silver by John Bly; Shire Publishing, 9th Ed., 2008. Isbn-13: 978-0747804505
7. English, Irish, & Scottish Silver: at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art compose by Beth Carver Wees; Hudson Hills Press, 1st Ed.,1997. Isbn-13: 978-1555951177

(These and other perfect reference books on this subject are ready at Amazon.com and other fine booksellers.)

* U.S. Guide to precious Metals & Jewels: Laws & Standards (See paragraph 23.6)