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Reference desk

Marks, hallmarks, and value reference tables

16 lookup pages for the marks people actually find on objects: assay punches and purity numbers on silver, factory and symbol marks on ceramics, trademark eras on figurines, and the construction evidence that dates bottles and tools.

Every page is table-first. Where a mark cannot be resolved from the evidence on the object, the page says so rather than offering a confident guess, and value figures are given as broad bands because condition and rarity decide the rest.

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Hummel Figurines

TMK trademark eras, what actually drives value, and an honest read on the current market.

Hummel figurines value guide with full TMK trademark tables from the Crown mark onward, what actually drives price, and why most Hummels sell for less.

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Goebel Figurines

Goebel marks and the non-Hummel lines that collectors chase.

Goebel figurines identification: Goebel mark families by era, how to tell an M.I. Hummel from the rest of Goebel, and the non-Hummel lines collectors chase.

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Pottery Marks

Mark types, country-of-origin wording, and the symbol index for marks with no readable name.

Pottery marks identification tables: what impressed, printed and painted marks reveal, how country wording dates a piece, and pottery versus porcelain bodies.

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Porcelain Marks

Factory marks by region, reproduction red flags, and a letter-by-letter narrowing method.

Porcelain marks identification by region: German, Austrian, French, English, Japanese and Chinese marks, plus the red flags that expose later reproductions.

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China Patterns

Finding the pattern name on a service, and how to search when the pattern was never named.

China pattern identification tables: where the pattern name hides on a backstamp, pattern numbers versus names, and how to describe an unnamed pattern.

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Antique Bottles

Seams, base scars, and embossing: dating a bottle from how it was made.

Antique bottle identification by mould seams, pontil scars, and base marks. How to date old bottles by manufacturing evidence rather than guesswork alone.

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Antique Tools

Maker stamps, construction details, and which old tools are actually collected.

Antique tool identification tables: which marks each tool type carries, what construction details bracket the age, and which old tools are worth money.

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Start from the object, not the mark

If you do not know what the item is yet, the category pages sort by material and object type first, then hand off to the right mark tables here.

How we handle uncertainty

Our accuracy and editorial pages explain why an honest unknown beats a confident wrong attribution.

Mark too worn to read?

Photograph it in AntiqScope and work from the result back into these tables.

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