New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1907-03-06
ENGLISH HAL | MARKS
The True Ones Are the Leopard
and the Lion.
LEGACY OF THE MIDDLE AGES
The System Invented by the Gold
smiths Company Of London Is a
Lasting Index to the Age and Gen.
uineness Of Old Silver Articles.

Lasting Index to the Age and Gen.
uineness Of Old Silver Articles.
Every mark on your old silver means
something, and if you care to be sure
about its 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-
yate marks. !
In 1887 King Edward III. granted a
charter to the Goldsniths' guild. DUR
ing the reign of Edward ~. the Gold
smiths Company of London, as it
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 a lasting in
dex by which to judge the, age of gold
and silver, but we have agaarantee Of
genuineness.
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 leopard's head was
used first from 1900, and in 1916 lion
PEASANT was added. These marks were
punched into the metal with die, the
animal appearing in shield or oblong
field.
Until 1850 a small crown appeared
over the dion; from 1867 to 1850 the
puncheon followed the outline of the
lions body; after that the lion appear
ed on ain oblong shield. These various
forms of the hall mark indicate certain
broad lperiods and are sometimes help
full 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 1918, for, although there
fifty years before, it is customary to
go back to 1918 as AN accurate starting
point.
! Charles ILL., raised the standard OF the
4 metal, and ina 1866 the new quality was
iIsgiven new mark, Britannia sitting in
II; an obtong puncheon, with lions
~ head erased. The standard was found
II to be too soft for practical purposes,
however, and i'm 1920 there YVES a re
n n II
of metal, with the leopard's head and
the lion PEASANT. Naturally these Bri-
itanmia 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 Ethe initials were substitut
led For example, prior to this date
Paul Lamerie.s mark was La. After
ward 1t became F. i.
i Thus were four marks on the silver
UP to 17S4-Ieopardas head, lion, date
II letter and makers mark. In 1854 the
iS0Wereign's head was added-the gov
ornamental customs matchmaking five
| punches in all. There were changes
from time to time in the fixed hal
+
example, the laopard's head was set il
| a puncheon following it's outlines unit
1913, when it began to appear in q
;, symmetrical shield of five sides.
lR 1896 the head was reduced SONS
what in size. In 172O the leopard los1
his beard and his shield became OBJ
long, and in 1928 his crown was taker
away from him. These were all Lon
don marks. There were in addition
provincial marks. The Edinburgh hal
mark dates from 1457. 1t was a triple
turreEed castle or tower. The stand
ard mark was a thistle, which was
substituted for the assay masters mi
tails in l7a7 The date letter cycles
began in Edinburgh in 1851.
Glasgow had a curious emblem-f
tree with a bird in the top, a bell hang
ing from one branch and a fish across
the trunk, stamped in an oval punch
con The Sheffield and Birmingham
: hall marks We're a crown and an an
. Choir respectively, with the Lion passan
as the standard mark. Dublin had Z
crowned harp.
Now, to go back to the subject OF
date marks, / cannot do more thar
barely indicate what there is in thu
subject for those who wish to go into
1T seriously Different cities or halls
had different year marks. wall dea
only with the London marks, az being
!; by far the most Important.
| Each year had assigned to it q let
ter of the alphabet, which was stamp
3 I'D on every piece of silver made OF
sold in London that year. When The
alphabet was used up they went back
ito A again. taking usually a slightly
different form OF letter. These alpha
j bets stopped at the letter u. SO thai
each of these cycles is an even twenty
years in length.
ii One way of counterfeiang old silNe,
is to make a perfect copy Of an OLD
piece in some alloy and give it a thick
s l1oa ffuo ~ c,iIy,n,. 1,r, ho .,1oo