Lion passant (sterling silver hallmark)
The mark for sterling silver in a British hallmark: a lion walking, one forepaw raised.
Easily confused with
How to read it
Under the UK’s Hallmarking Act, the optional picture mark for 925 silver is a lion passant; on silver hallmarked at Edinburgh it is a lion rampant, standing on its hind legs, instead. Chaffers dates the earliest lion passant found on plate to 1545.
Also searched as: lion hallmark, lion passant hallmark, walking lion 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.
A lion or a leopard?
Jackson points out that the proper heraldic name of the animal is leopard, the same beast whose head is the London mark.
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), The lion passant
- English Goldsmiths and Their Marks (Jackson, 1905), Charles James Jackson, English Goldsmiths and Their Marks, 1905, Internet Archive (Cornell University Library scan), The lion passant, 1544
Last reviewed September 27, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research