Leopard’s head (London hallmark)
The mark of the London assay office: the piece was tested and hallmarked in London.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The UK’s Hallmarking Act gives each assay office its own mark, and London’s is a leopard’s head. It is also the oldest: Chaffers and Jackson both trace it to a statute of 1300, under which silver was to be marked with a leopard’s head by the wardens of the craft.
Also searched as: leopard’s head hallmark, London assay office mark, London hallmark.
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.
The leopard’s head and the lion
The lion passant is a different mark, for sterling silver rather than for London. Jackson notes that heraldically the lion passant is a leopard too, while the London mark keeps the name leopard’s head.
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. 1
- Hall Marks on Gold & Silver Plate (Chaffers, 1922), William Chaffers, Hall Marks on Gold & Silver Plate, 1922 edition, Internet Archive (scan), Statute of 1300
- English Goldsmiths and Their Marks (Jackson, 1905), Charles James Jackson, English Goldsmiths and Their Marks, 1905, Internet Archive (Cornell University Library scan), Statute of 1300
Last reviewed September 27, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research