Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1907-05-30
ENGLISH HALL MARKS
The True Ones Are the Leopard
and the Lion.
LEGACY CT THE MIDDLE AGES
The System Invented by the Gold
smiths' Company cf London is
Lasting index to the Age and Gen.
uineness OF Old Silver Articles.

about It's age or maker study of
these marks and the system is essen
tial. A record has been kept at Gold
smiths hall, London, for five centuries
of all annual date letters and Of the
registered silversmiths and their pri-
vate marks
In 1887 Is ing Edward Ill. granted
charter to the Goldsmiths' guild. Dur
ing the reign of Edward ~. the Gold
smiths Company of London. as 1t
came to be known, invented and put
into practice an alphabetical system of
marks, changing each year. There
were similar codes in the provincial
assay Offices
This system is one of the few be
quests of the middle ages which have
stood the test of time practically with
out change. BY the provisions of this
system we have not only lasting in
daS by which to judge the age of gold
and silver. but we have a guarantee of
genumeness.
Neither the date marks nor makers
marks are hall marks, properly speak
ing, though all marks on silver are
commonly referred to as hall marks.
The true hall marks are the leopard
and the lion The leopards head was
used first from 1900, and in 1915 lion
passant was added. These marks were
punched into the metal with a die, the
animal appearing in n shield or oblong
field.
Until 1850 a small crown appeared
over the lion from 1867 to 1850 the
puncheon followed the outline Of the
lions body; after that the lion appear
ed on an oblong shield These various
forms of the hall mark Indicate certain
broad periods and are sometimes help
ful In determining the age of piece
of silver when the date mark is indis-
tinct. The date letter or year mark
system seems TO have been definitely
settled about 1913, for, although there
was an alphabetical system more than
fifty years before, 1t is customary to
go back to 1918 as an accurate starting
point.
Charles ii. raised the standard of the
metal, and in 1895 the new quality was
given new mark, Britannia sitting in
an oblong puncheon, with a lions
to be too soft for practical purposes,
however. and in 1920 there was a re-
turn to the old and present standard
of metal with the leopard's head and
the lion passant. Naturally these Bri-
tannia pieces are rare.
Makers began to use their private
marks about 1868. At first they used
the first two letters of the surname.
About 1879 the initials were SUBSTITUTE
ed For example, prior to this date
Paul lamerie's mark was La. After
ward il became p l..
Thus We're four marks on the silver
up to 17S4-leopards head, lion, date
letter and makers mark. In 1884 the
sovereign's head was added-the gov
ernmental customs matchmaking five
punches in all. There were changes
from time to time in the fixed hall
marks which are worth noting For
example, the leopard's head was set In
puncheon following its outlines until
1878, when it began to appear in
symmetrical shield of five sides.
In 1896 the head was reduced some
what in size. In 10 the leopard lost
his beard and his shield became OBJ
long, and in 1873 his crown was taken
away from aim These We're all Lon
don marks. There were in addition
provincial marks. The Edinburgh hall
mark dates from 14Ji. was II triple
turreted castle Of tower. The stand
ard mark was thistle. which was
substituted for the assay masters ini-
tials in 1867. The date letter cycles
began in Edinburgh in 1851.
Glasgow had a curious eHalem-a
tree with bird in the top, bell hang
Ing from one branch and a fish across
the trunk, stamped in an oval punch
con. The Sheffield and Birmingham
hall marks were crown and an an
chor respectively. with the lion passant
as the standard mark. Dublin had a
crowned harp.
Now, to go back to the subject of
date marks, ] cannot do more than
barely indicate what there Is in the
subject for those who wish to 20 into
1t seriously. Different cities or halls
had different year marks. | will deal
only with the Londor. marks, as being
by far the most important
Each year had assigned to it a let
ter OF the alphabet. which was stamp
ed on every piece of silver made or
sold in London that year. When the
alphabet was used up they went back
to \ again, taking usually slightly
different form of letter. These alpha
bets stopped at the letter /, so that
each of these cycles is an even twenty
years in length.
One way of counterfeiting old silver
is TO make a perfect copy Of an old
piece in some alloy and give it a thicl.
coating of silver by the modern cleo
troplate process. Such counterfeits are
treated skiiliully. hall marks and all
being reproduced.
On tie bottom or inside of the piece
may sometimes be found the granulat
ed or cryStailized surfaces left by this
process, thodgh these are usually fooled
over if in sight Sometimes English
hall marks have been cut from a spoon
or other small article of great age and
transferred to a larger piece of more
modern make.-Country Life In Amer
ica
His Idea of Happiness.
AT the Players club in New York
some years ago number of actors
were arguing about the meaning of
the word happiness" In the midst Of
the argument Henry II Diyav onnaor