Crown (gold hallmark)
The picture mark for gold in a British hallmark.
Easily confused with
How to read it
Under the UK’s Hallmarking Act, the optional picture mark for every gold standard, from 375 to 999, is a crown, struck beside the figures for the standard. Chaffers records its start: a 1798 statute had 18-carat gold marked with a crown and the figures 18, instead of the lion passant.
Also searched as: crown hallmark, crown mark on gold.
A stamp is a claim about the metal, made by whoever struck it. This page says what each mark means under the rules that define it; it doesn’t test or value anything.
Not the Sheffield crown
Older Sheffield silver can carry a crown as the Sheffield assay office’s mark; on gold, the crown stands for the metal.
More jewellery marks
Sources
- Hallmarking Act 1973, Schedule 2: Approved Hallmarks, Hallmarking Act 1973 (c. 43), Sch. 2, legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), Sch. 2, Pt. I, para. 3
- Hall Marks on Gold & Silver Plate (Chaffers, 1922), William Chaffers, Hall Marks on Gold & Silver Plate, 1922 edition, Internet Archive (scan), Statutes, 1798
Last reviewed September 27, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research