Jul 9, 2026
Hallmarks are the impressed stamps you will see on pieces of gold, silver and platinum, and it is important to look out for them when assessing pieces to buy at auction.
The system of British hallmarks dates back a few centuries, but the concept of hallmarking dates back thousands of years, to the time when coins first emerged as currency. Individually stamped by local officials, those early coins would have been made of electrum (a mix of gold and silver) or silver, and the stamp would denote the purity of the metal, which in turn attested to its value. It was only far later that base metal coins represented far greater values, effectively acting as tokens rather than carrying their actual value in their make-up.
From the earliest times one of the problems with currency losing its value was the clipping of coins, where the unscrupulous would harvest minute amounts of silver from the edge of individual coins stamped for a specific value. Eventually they would have enough silver to either mint new coins or make other valuable items. However, this also meant that the currency in circulation depreciated in value. The authorities put a stop to this trick in the reign of Charles II by introducing lettering around the edge of coins.
If debasement of the coinage – as even happened officially under Henry VIII to save money – was an age-old problem, so was debasement of objects made from precious metals. How did you know that the ring or goblet you bought was pure gold or silver, and not made from something cheaper, mixed in with a little of the precious metal to give it the appearance of something more valuable?
In England King Edward I started to tackle the problem by introducing a law in 1300 making it compulsory for all silver objects to meet a sterling silver standard of 92.5% purity. To ensure this, he ordered that objects passing an official test or ‘assay’ should be marked with a leopard’s head.
Edward’s grandson, Edward III, granted a charter to the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths 27 years later, and all objects made from gold had to be sent to the Goldsmiths’ Hall in London for assaying and approval. Hence the word hallmark.
Regional assay offices in England for silver were set up later in Sheffield, Birmingham, York, Exeter, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich and Chester. In Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow had assay offices, and in Ireland there was an office in Dublin. Sheffield, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Dublin survive. Of the others, some (Chester and Glasgow) lasted well into the 20th century, while others (Norwich, closed 1702) have been long gone.
This is important in helping to identify fakes or forgeries, as well as in establishing the genuine article when assessing a piece of silver. For instance, a Georgian coffee pot with a mark for Norwich – a castle surmounting a lion passant – could only be a forgery, deliberately created to make it look like something it is not. One of the ways of doing this would have been to cut the hallmark from another true Norwich silver object and inserting into something later and less valuable.
Other countries have similar systems measuring purity. If you’re lucky enough to come across a piece of Fabergé, for example, the Fabergé mark will be stamped in Cyrillic, but the purity of silver is measured in zolotniks, 96 zolotniks being pure.
May 26, 2026
We are currently seeing exceptionally high interest and fantastic auction results for gold and gold jewellery.
Now could be the perfect time to sell while demand is strong and prices remain high.
If you have any gold jewellery tucked away that you no longer wear, feel free to get in touch for a free, no-obligation valuation.
Single items or collections welcome
Trusted auction service
Competitive results for sellers
Please contact us at sales@johnnicholsons.com or 01428 653727 for further information.
May 17, 2026
Death, Divorce, Debt and Disaster. These are the four Ds, as they are known, that have traditionally defined why people decide to sell their belongings at auction. Now, I am adding another two: Downsizing and Decluttering. These can both apply as much to collectors and their collections as to households, but whichever it is, they all add to the rich mix of the saleroom, explaining at least one reason why auctions are such a great place to buy.
From family heirlooms to duplicates within collections that can be recycled to fund the next purchase, these sources of auction consignments bring hard-to-find rarities to the surface all the time. Auctions provide probably the best hunting ground thanks to house clearances and deceased estates, where interesting antiques and collectables that have been hidden away for decades get their first public showing. Pitched right, they can create a lot of bidding competition. But these circumstances also create the perfect opportunity to pick up a bargain. That’s why general auctions are such an exciting experience – you never know what will turn up.
Before the days of throwaway consumer culture, this is how many people furnished their homes. Now they call it upcycling, but quality and value are still the watchwords.
If you do decide to de-clutter, downsize or otherwise have a bit of a tidy-up, you may well find things among your possessions that have the potential to earn you a bit of money. If so, here are a couple of tips to remember.
Firstly, don’t spruce up anything antique in the hope of making it more attractive to buyers. You may well find that you damage them or make them less appealing. Dealers, for instance, generally prefer to buy things in ‘untouched’ condition, as it gives them the opportunity to have them restored and build in their own margin. Take that away and they tend to lose interest.
No matter how lacking in detail, if you have any paperwork linked to the items in question, include it with the consignment. It can make all the difference. In many cases, you won’t have any, but if you have memories of that clock sitting on your grandfather’s mantelpiece for the past 50 years, write a note saying so and date it. It may not be much, but it helps a little to fill in the gaps of the piece’s provenance, and that’s what every buyer looks for.
May 6, 2026
A watch handed to a crew member by a passenger during the sinking of the Titanic remains at the centre of one of the most controversial tales involving the disaster. Now it is up for sale at John Nicholson’s on May 20 with an estimate of £30,000-50,000.
The circumstances of the survival of the entire Caldwell family has been one of the most debated tales relating to the Titanic. More than a century on, it has been the subject of a book, blogs, essays and interviews.
At the heart of that debate is whether Albert Caldwell bribed crew members with his watch to secure a place on one of the lifeboats.
Certainly the watch, now up for auction again after selling at Christie’s in 1998, passed to a crew member. And the family, once rescued, disappeared so quickly that they were left off the published list of survivors, making their way home to Illinois to pick up their lives.
In doing so, they also managed to avoid being picked up by an ambulance waiting for them on the quay in New York. It had been dispatched to pick up Mrs Sylvia Caldwell, so that her state of health could be assessed. Did she really have the Tropical Neurasthenia that had enabled the family to quit their post in a Siam mission to return home early, or was she faking?
In 1909, Albert Caldwell (1885-1977) and his wife Sylvia had signed up for a seven-year mission to Siam with the Presbyterian Church’s Board of Foreign Missions. Sylvia was reportedly already ill by the time she gave birth to their son Alden on June 10, 1911, and the couple applied for early release from their contract as a result. Their request was turned down – a considerable blow as it meant the mission would not pay for their expensive return journey.
Eventually, Albert Caldwell’s pleading for the mission to let them leave persuaded led to a change of mind, but his boss wrote to the Board in New York, advising: “When they arrive in New York, have Mrs. Caldwell examined by some of our doctors before settling their account.” If she had been found healthy, the Caldwells would have faced paying for the return trip themselves – a forbidding amount. Hence the ambulance waiting when the Carpathia docked with the Titanic survivors aboard.
In the event, the Caldwells slipped away and disappeared, heading back west, with Albert securing the post of school principal within days.
How the watch changed hands from Albert to Elliott C’s father was never made clear; was it a bribe to let him on the lifeboat with his family, or could it have been handed over in gratitude for the stokers’ part in their rescue?
Albert himself changed the story of their rescue several times throughout his long life.
In a recorded interview still available online, he explained that at first lifeboats were being lowered and sent off only partially full because passengers did not realise the ship was sinking and were reluctant to let their wives and children set off by themselves in such conditions.
However, after descending to a lower deck and speaking with some of the ship’s stokers, he learned the true state of affairs.
At that moment, according to Caldwell, lifeboat number 13, which was only partially filled, was lowered past their deck and one of the stokers shouted to the crew above to hold it in position while the stokers and the Caldwell family climbed in.
Other stories of how Albert ended up in the lifeboat also emerged, some damning, others praising him as the protector of his family.
A photograph of the family on deck two days before the ship sank shows Albert clutching the baby, ten-month-old Alden, with his wife standing next to them. One argument was that her illness meant she did not have the strength to carry the baby. If so, it was likely that Albert was also carrying Alden when they headed to the lifeboat. Records show a sailor cast Alden to Steward Frederick Ray, who then left him in the care of Hilda Mary Slayter, who was grabbed to be placed in the boat as well.
Whatever the case, other men were also in the lifeboat.
When Christie’s sold this lot in 1998, it was erroneously assumed that Elliot C, the son of the crewman who took the watch, was Elliot C. Everett. The accompanying letter of provenance, being signed off as Elliot C. indicates that the C was the surname and could possibly be one of the engine room crew that Albert had befriended.
That letter reads as follows:
David, Add to Will
Father left his much treasured pocket watch and chain / cufflinks to me upon his death and I should like you to have them as a gesture of my gratitude for your many kindnesses over the years. Sadly it was necessary for me to sell the gold watch chain at a time of financial need.The watch has some history attached to it which you will be interested to read. I have included mother’s watch bought by my father as a 25th wedding anniversary present in the early twenties when he worked for the White Star Shipping Line, also her rings and diamond pendant which your wife may like to wear.
Thanks
Elliott C
Caldwell’s great niece wrote a book entitled A Rare Titanic Family in 2012, based on family research, which again self-validated his actions and distances himself as best possible from any disgrace. A copy accompanies the lot.
The watch itself – originally the property of a relative before being passed to Albert – is an 18ct gold cased keyless half hunter pocket watch by Sutherland & Horne, Edinburgh, No.265022, circa 1876.
It is engraved: Presented to JAMES CALDWELL by the employees of the Pumpherston Oil Co. Ltd on his leaving to take charge of the Mining Department at Deans, June 3rd 1896.
Apr 20, 2026
It never ceases to amaze me how what are, frankly, in my opinion a series of unattractive daubs flung together in the name of Contemporary art can make millions at auction when highly accomplished and rather beautiful Victorian landscapes can be had for buttons.
A recent trip to see the excellent Courtauld exhibition, Seurat and the Sea, was a useful reminder that back in the 1880s, they were also breaking new ground in art. Seurat, with Pointillism, or Neo-Impressionism as it was also called, was miles ahead of his time in showing how blending complementary but opposite colours on the spectrum could create all the light, shade, depth and life a painting needed. He died at just 31, having completed no more than 45 major paintings – all of them a treat for the eye on any wall.
I suppose that fashions change and, with them, tastes. Don’t get me wrong, I think a great deal of Modern and Contemporary art has a lot to offer, but it is also rife with mountebanks. However, despite the marvels of Seurat and the leading lights of late 19th century art, the flipside of what has been a rather subdued market for late Victorian and Edwardian painting is that you can pick up stunning art for very little indeed.
Just browsing through one of the online auction platforms the other day, I worked out that, with a fair wind behind me, I could fill a whole wall with stunning Victorian and Edwardian watercolours for less than £2000. Some of the pictures looked a bit tired, but closer inspection revealed that they simply needed a new mount and frame, and at these prices this was very much a realistic option.
I have no idea whether art like this will enjoy a renaissance in years to come – although it certainly deserves to – but those cherry picking now will be in the best position to capitalise if it does. And if prices remain in the doldrums, well they will have a fantastic selection of art gracing their walls, which they will never tire of.
