Hallmarks and stamps

All jewelry imported into the United States must be marked for content and county of origin. The stamp on the reverse of Mexican silver carries a mark of .925 for sterling silver or .950 for fine silver. Sometimes the work bears a sterling stamp, rather than .925 stamp. Jewelry with higher silver content is usually not stamped as such, and may carry either a .925 or .950 mark. The stamp MEX or MEXICO normally marks the country of origin, although occasionally TAXCO replaces the Mexico stamp.

The markers mark maybe a name or a registration mark, or both. The registration mark includes a T for Taxco, a letter indicating the first letter of the markers name and a number wich indicates the person is the x number registered under that initial. For example TR-120 would indicate the 120th person whose last name begins in R who is registered in Taxco.

Older pieces of Mexican silver may have different hallmarks or names. The book Mexican Silver has an excellent list of these older marks.