old hallmarks?

Question

I have recently acquired my late grandmother's wedding ring. I was born and raised in the U.S., and am not familiar with the hallmarks. After all of my research online, I still cannot find out the company. The company's hallmark is ACC (ending with a small C underlined). The other markings tell me that it is from Birmingham, 22 carat gold, and the date mark is "H."
Any help or information would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

On gold, a crown plus the karat (spelled with a “c” in Britain, abbreviated “c” or “ct”) was used from 1798 until 1975 (22 ct was marked the same as sterling silver until 1844). In Scotland, a thistle was used instead of the crown. From 1798 to 1854, only gold assayed at 18 and 22 ct was permissible and hallmarked. In 1854, 15, 12, and 9 ct were legalized. The fineness in thousandths was added to these karat marks from 1854 to 1932.

Answer 2

British Gold Hallmarks Date Letters

Answer 3

If the ring is from birmingham, there is a 99.99% chance that the manufacturer was based in still very active Jewellery Quarter, and it would have been hallmarked at the Assay office. I can't find the birmingham assay office website, but here is the wikipedia link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Assay_Office

the Jewellery Quarter Museum is also a terrific resource on the history of the area.

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=2705&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=1763

Answer 4

Take to Antique Jewellers or a reputable shop & you will be told for a fee all you want to know.

Answer 5

Hallmarking and Gold Standards
Hallmarking is the application of a quality control mark to an article of precious metal. It is also called an assay or standard mark. They are usually applied after accurate independent testing by one of four UK assay Offices which are legally empowered to test precious metals and apply a hallmark to them. These offices are Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Sheffield.
A hallmark indicates that an article has been independently tested at an Assay Office and guarantees that it conforms to the legal standards of precious metal content, known as the fineness.
A hallmark indicates at least three facts:

Who made the article (makers mark)- the initials of the maker What the metal is, and its purity - the fineness mark Where it was tested (Assayed) and marked - the Assay Office mark

The Leopard's Head is the mark of the London Assay Office and has been in continuous use since 1300, when the Wardens of the Company were given responsibility for marking gold and silver wares, which passed assay, with the King's mark of the Leopard's Head. A handy guide to hallmarks from the different Assay Offices can be purchased quite inexpensively from your local bookstore.

The fineness of the precious metal content of jewellery and silverware is expressed in parts per thousand. Sterling silver is indicated by 925, which means it is 92.5% silver or 925 parts of silver in every 1000 of the silver alloy. The current legislation is the Hallmarking Act 1973. Following amendments to the Act in 1998 and January 1999, the sponsor's mark, fineness mark and Assay Office mark remain compulsory. But the Date Letter indicating the year of hallmarking, which had been in use from 1478, is now a voluntary mark, as are the traditional fineness symbols, the Lion Passant for 925 Silver, Britannia for 958 Silver and the Orb for 950 platinum. Platinum was only recognised as a hallmarkable precious metal since 1976.

The standards of fineness are:

Metal: Compulsory Mark
9ct gold 375
14ct gold 585
18ct gold 750
22ct gold 916
99% pure gold 990
99.9% pure gold 999
800 grade silver 800
sterling silver 925
Britannia Silver 958
99.9% pure silver 999
85% Platinum 850
90% Platinum 900
95% (UK standard) Platinum 950
99.9% pure Platinum 999


An article cannot be legally described as being of gold, silver or platinum unless it is hallmarked, or the article weighs less than 0.5 grams in platinum, 1 gram in gold or 7.78 grams in silver.

The history of gold and silver quality standards goes back to the early uses of these metals as money. Legal regulations governing the marking of jewellery began here in the UK in 1239 and in one form or another have existed throughout the civilised world since.
Penalties for violation of these laws have varied. In 1397 a report was made on the false counterfeit stamps of two goldsmiths who were sentenced to be placed in the pillory at Westminster with their ears nailed to it and with a ticket over their heads upon which their offences were written. They each later had one ear cut off, were imprisoned and fined 10 marks.

Identifying and authenticating antique and period jewelry is based on experience and knowledge. It is often a process of comparing known with unknown and making an educated guess. But those of us who search for clues to a piece's age and origin are always delighted to find a hallmark on a jewel, because it eliminates a great deal of guesswork. Learning how to identify hallmarks is an essential part of becoming an expert in the field.

There is a common misunderstanding about what a hallmark really is. Many people confuse hallmarks with makers' marks. A hallmark is nothing more than an indication of metal content, a guarantee of purity or quality, which may include a maker’s mark and other marks. Makers' marks alone are not considered hallmarks. Hallmarks are most often found on precious metal objects. Jewelry is exempted from hallmarking under certain circumstances. However, when a piece of jewelry is hallmarked, the marks can yield clues to country of origin and, sometimes, date of manufacture, as well as indicate the metal content of the piece.

The word hallmark is derived from London’s Goldsmiths’ Hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, the originator of Britain’s first hallmarks, which still maintains a record of all British hallmarks. The most accurate definition of a hallmark is the mark or marks stamped, impressed, or struck on gold, silver, or platinum which indicate fineness or karat (also called quality or purity marks). Depending on country of origin, hallmarks can also include symbols for place of assay, date of assay (in the form of a letter or a letter and a number), maker’s mark, importation or exportation mark if applicable, and tax or duty mark.
Hallmarks have been in use in England and France since the 14th century. Most other European countries also use hallmarks. The United States has never used hallmarks per se. Indications of fineness or karat have been required since 1906, but fineness marks were sometimes stamped on silver jewelry in the 19th century (“coin” or “standard” for 900 silver, “sterling” for 925).
Every country has a different system of hallmarking, ranging from simple to complex. The most commonly found marks will be discussed here. Others can be found in Tardy’s International Hallmarks on Silver and Poinçons d’Or et de Platine (hallmarks on gold and platinum, French text).

FRENCH HALLMARKS

The French have what is undoubtedly the most complex system of hallmarks in the world, and the most difficult to read. If you can learn to recognize the French marks for gold, silver and platinum, you will have done well. The difficulty lies in the fact that the French never use numbers. Symbols in the form of animals and heads of animals and people, insects, and birds have been used to indicate fineness, place of manufacture, imports and exports. These have changed over the centuries. Tardy’s Hallmarks on Silver, in English, can help decipher most of these marks, and help with understanding the book on gold and platinum marks, which has not been translated from the French.


The most easily recognized and commonly seen French mark is the eagle’s head, in use since 1838, indicating 18 karat gold. Assayed French gold is never lower than 18k. The mark can be found on jewelry in any number of places. Look for it on clasps, side edges, galleries, and pin stems as well as on the back surface of a piece.
On French silver jewelry, the most often-seen mark is the boar’s head, the mark of the Paris Assay Office, indicating a fineness of 800 or higher on small articles (such as jewelry). This mark was in use from 1838 to 1961. Outside of Paris, the crab mark was used from 1838 to 1961, and since 1962, has also been used by the Paris Assay Office.


French boar's head mark for (at least) 800 silver, taken with a 60x photo microscope

After 1838, a maker’s mark in a lozenge (diamond shape with four equal sides) was also required on French gold, silver and platinum. According to Tardy, the lozenge shape itself was introduced in 1797, but it is not clear if there were any regulations about its use at that time.
From 1829, items made of both gold and silver were stamped with a conjoined boar’s and eagle’s head.
Platinum was not officially recognized by the French government as a precious metal until 1910, at which time the eagle’s head for gold was also used for platinum. In 1912, a special mark for platinum was introduced, a dog’s head. Before 1910, French platinum jewelry may have a maker's mark, but it was not hallmarked.


Polish marks for 800 silver
(used after 1963)

OTHER EUROPEAN HALLMARKS

Many European countries mark silver and gold with numerical fineness marks in thousandths, e.g., 800, 830, 900, 935, etc. for silver, 333, 500, 585, 750, 875, etc. for gold. Other symbols may be used in combination with these numbers.

Austro-Hungarian items may bear the head of a woman, animal, or bird with a number inside a cartouche or reserve. The most commonly-seen mark on silver and silver-gilt jewelry is the dog’s head with the number 3 inside a coffin-shaped reserve, indicating 800 silver, in use 1866-1937.


Russian gold mark, 21k, taken with a 60x photo microscope
In Russia, two-digit numbers refer to zolotniks, which convert to thousandths, e.g., 56 = 583 (14k), 84 = 875 silver (or 21k gold), . Between 1896 and 1908, the national mark was the left profile of a woman’s head wearing a diadem (“kokoshnik”). From 1908 to 1917, a right-facing profile was used. After the Russian Revolution, the mark was a right-facing worker’s profile with a hammer, and the fineness in thousandths.
Swedish hallmarks after 1912 include a triple crown mark, in a trefoil for local manufacture, and in an oval for imports, along with an S in a hexagon for silver indicating 830 or higher. Gold will bear a karat mark in a rectangle. There will also be a date letter and number, a city mark and a maker’s mark.
Finnish hallmarks are similar to Swedish. A crown inside a heart indicates local manufacture, a crown in an oval for imports. Place of assay, maker’s mark and date letter/number may be added.
BRITISH HALLMARKS
The British system of hallmarking is somewhat complex, but relatively easy to follow once the system is deciphered. British hallmarks include a fineness or purity mark, an assay office mark, a date letter, and usually but not always, a maker’s mark. A royal duty mark was added from 1784 to 1890 (not always found on jewelry of this period). The sequence of marks on a piece is arbitrary.


Fineness or purity marks:

On gold, a crown plus the karat (spelled with a “c” in Britain, abbreviated “c” or “ct”) was used from 1798 until 1975 (22 ct was marked the same as sterling silver until 1844). In Scotland, a thistle was used instead of the crown. From 1798 to 1854, only gold assayed at 18 and 22 ct was permissible and hallmarked. In 1854, 15, 12, and 9 ct were legalized. The fineness in thousandths was added to these karat marks from 1854 to 1932.


In 1932, 15 and 12 ct were abandoned in favor of 14 ct, which was also marked 585. 9 ct continued to be legal, also marked 375. In 1975, all gold marks were standardized, and the crown mark and the fineness in thousandths became the only marks to be used in addition to place of assay and date letter.
On English silver, the lion passant (walking lion) is the symbol for sterling silver (925). Scottish silver before 1975, like gold, bears a thistle mark. A higher silver standard, Britannia silver (958.4) was required to be used for a short period at the end of the 17th century, bearing the figure of Britannia instead of the lion. Britannia silver is still legal, but has been seldom used since the reinstatement of the sterling standard in 1720. The lion passant was retained in the Hallmarking Act of 1975, but the Scottish thistle was changed to a rampant lion.


Place of assay marks:

Assay offices have been located in a number of British cities. The ones still in operation today are in London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh. Most jewelry will bear a London, Birmingham, or Chester place of assay mark (the Chester assay office closed in 1962). The mark for London is referred to as a leopard’s head (crowned before 1821). The mark for Birmingham is an anchor. Most hallmarks books indicate an upright anchor for silver and a sideways anchor for gold, but this was not strictly adhered to. The mark for Chester is a shield bearing the town’s arms, a sword and three sheaves of wheat.
Date letters:

Each place of assay has its own cycles of hallmarks which include a letter of the alphabet for each year, beginning with the letter A, and continuing through to Z (sometimes the letter j is omitted, and some cycles end with a letter before Z). The style of the letter and the shape of the reserve or shield background changes with each cycle. A letter can be upper or lower case and of differing type faces, in order to distinguish it from the same letter in an earlier or later cycle.

It is not necessary to memorize these letters. Pocket-sized editions of British hallmarks books make it possible to look up the date letter found on a piece “in the field.” All that is necessary is to determine the place of assay from its mark and look up the date letter in the tables given for that city. It is important to remember to match the style of letter and shape of its surrounding shield or reserve. Occasionally there will be a discrepancy between what is in the books and the mark on the piece, in which case the style of the letter takes precedence over the shape of the shield. With practice, and book in hand, you can learn to read British hallmarks quickly and easily.

Because of the association of British sterling with quality, some American manufacturers emulated the British, making sterling objects and jewelry long before the United States government nationalized the sterling standard in 1906. Not only were British styles and metal quality imitated; some American maker’s marks bear a striking resemblance to British hallmarks. The most well-known of these is the mark of Gorham Manufacturing Co., featuring a walking lion, an anchor and an Old English style capital G, looking very much like a Birmingham hallmark for 1830. Most American maker’s marks can be found in Dorothy Rainwater’s American Jewelry Manufacturers.
After World War II, with the rising popularity of silver jewelry and objects made in Taxco, Mexico, the Mexican government issued an assay mark guaranteeing the fineness to be 925 or higher. This mark is referred to as the “spread eagle” mark. The original mark did look like an eagle, but with modifications over the years, the mark was simplified. The number inside the mark is a workshop or city designation. In 1979, this mark was abandoned in favor of a series of registry letters and numbers assigned to individuals and workshops. Today, Mexican silver has regained its popularity, with a commensurate rise in value of period pieces by the most sought-after makers and designers.






Mexican hallmarks from a piece by Villasana (c. 1950s-60s) including "MEXICO, TAXCO", Eagle mark with "3", "VILLASANA, 925"

In a world increasingly filled with fakes and reproductions, a little knowledge of hallmarks can go a long way in helping dealers and collectors feel more confident about what they are buying.

Christie Romero is the director of the Center for Jewelry Studies, www.center4jewelrystudies.org and the author of Warman's Jewelry.

Visit London's Goldsmiths' Hall web site at http://www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk