Sheffield Silver Hallmarks
Last verified: 2026-05-06
← Back to the UK Silver Hallmarks Identifier
Yorkshire Rose (1975+) or Crown (1773–1974)
A crown until 1974; a Yorkshire Rose from 1975 onwards.
In use since 1773 · Still active · England · 18 cycles, 258 dated letters on this page
History
Sheffield was established in 1773 alongside Birmingham. The crown town mark was used until 1974, after which the office switched to the Yorkshire Rose. Sheffield is closely associated with the cutlery trade and with Sheffield Plate — the fused-silver-on-copper technique invented in the city in the 1740s and used widely before electroplating took over in the 1840s.
Reading the marks on a Sheffield piece
Sheffield silver from 1773 to 1974 carries the crown town mark together with the Lion Passant for sterling 925. From 1975 the mark changed to the Yorkshire Rose. Both marks appear on pieces in resale circulation today: anything labelled with a crown is pre-1975, anything with a rose is post-1975. The mark change is one of the most precise dating shortcuts in UK silver — if you see Sheffield + Yorkshire Rose, the piece is from 1975 onwards.
Identifying the date — using the date letter
Sheffield's pre-1975 cycle was independent of London and Birmingham. From 1975 onwards, all four UK Assay Offices share the same date-letter sequence. Sheffield publishes its full historical chart on the Assay Office website.
Faster: the main UK Silver Hallmarks Identifier walks you through standard mark, town mark, cycle, and letter step-by-step and prints the year. Use the chart further down this page if you prefer to scan visually.
Sheffield date letter — pick the letter on your piece
Click the letter stamped on your piece. The chart below shows every year Sheffield used that letter, with the actual glyph image alongside — match the font and shield shape to narrow to one year.
A uppercase · 8 years
B uppercase · 8 years
C uppercase · 8 years
D uppercase · 8 years
E uppercase · 8 years
F uppercase · 8 years
G uppercase · 6 years
H uppercase · 6 years
I uppercase · 5 years
J uppercase · 1 year
K uppercase · 6 years
L uppercase · 6 years
M uppercase · 6 years
N uppercase · 6 years
O uppercase · 5 years
P uppercase · 6 years
Q uppercase · 4 years
R uppercase · 6 years
S uppercase · 6 years
T uppercase · 7 years
U uppercase · 5 years
V uppercase · 6 years
W uppercase · 6 years
X uppercase · 6 years
Y uppercase · 6 years
Z uppercase · 6 years
a lowercase · 4 years
b lowercase · 4 years
c lowercase · 4 years
d lowercase · 4 years
e lowercase · 4 years
f lowercase · 4 years
g lowercase · 4 years
h lowercase · 4 years
i lowercase · 2 years
j lowercase · 1 year
k lowercase · 4 years
l lowercase · 4 years
m lowercase · 5 years
n lowercase · 3 years
o lowercase · 4 years
p lowercase · 4 years
q lowercase · 5 years
r lowercase · 4 years
s lowercase · 4 years
t lowercase · 4 years
u lowercase · 5 years
v lowercase · 4 years
w lowercase · 3 years
x lowercase · 4 years
y lowercase · 3 years
z lowercase · 4 years
The other UK Assay Offices
If your piece’s town mark doesn’t match the Yorkshire Rose (1975+) or Crown (1773–1974), try one of the other active offices:
For closed historical offices — Chester, Newcastle, Exeter, York, Glasgow — and Dublin, see the main identifier; full per-office cycle data is wired into the wizard for those too.
Related
- Main UK Silver Hallmarks Identifier (multi-office wizard)
- Official site: The Sheffield Assay Office
- Goldsmiths’ Company — the compulsory hallmarking authority for England and Wales
Track silver flips with FlipperHelper
FlipperHelper logs each piece with photos, tracks listings across eBay, Vinted, and 14 other platforms, and shows real profit per item after every expense. Free on the App Store.