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Norway
Hallmarks have been used in Norway since the Sixteenth Century. The system
included, at various times and in various combinations; city marks, assayer's
marks, date letters, date numbers, and maker's marks. The farther a piece was
made from the main population centers of Oslo (Christiana), Bergen and
Trondheim, the more likely there were to be mark inconsistencies.
For centuries, the bureaucracy in control of silver marking seesawed between the Crown and the
Silver Guilds, but in 1891, a simplified national
system was finally established that is still in use today.
The current system requires only a silver standard mark accompanied by a maker's mark. The
old Norwegian standard of .830 purity silver is still used, but beginning
around 1920, .925 purity began replacing it and is now the foremost standard in
use. Town names are sometimes included with the required marks and the letters
"NM" (Norsk Mønster) are sometimes seen on flatware, this abbreviation is an indication of
design patent or copyright.
Below are illustrations of marks used by many of the latter 19th and 20th century silver
producers of Norway. I will add to the page as I find or am sent mark illustrations.
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