GOLD AND SILVERWARE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21377, 21 June 1939, Page 12

GOLD AND SILVERWARE

Various Markings Explained Indicative of Quality of Article An explanation of the symbols and hieroglyphics on gold and silverware was made to the Timaru Rotary Club by Mr R. Wilson, who gave the address at the weekly luncheon yesterday. Mr Wilson described the various markings and the reason for them, also explaining that they were introduced as a protection for the public against inferior ware. The symbols were commonly known as the “hallmark” said Mr Wilson Hallmarking was defined as the stamping of gold and silverware with certain specific official marks as a guarantee of quality, the term being derived from the places or “halls” where the work was done.. As far as was known the system was first introduced in France by Philip the Bold ir> 1275, and England followed shortly afterwards when Edward I in 1309 issued a statute “that no gold or silverware should be made of less quality than that of the ‘touch of Paris’ for gold (there was no gold standard then) nor worse than the sterling allay for silver—the wardens of the craft of the goldsmiths being deputed to assay the wares and to affix the mark of a leopard’s head.” The head was an emblem of the Goldsmiths’ Guild and from that date the leopard’s head had been the official hallmark of the London office. Mr Wilson outlined the history or the London Goldsmiths’ Corporation from that time and described the various marks affixed in the different cities in which the work was done in England, the various city organisations of smiths each having a different mark. In silverware first there was the maker’s mark which was affixed by the maker. The quality mark in London consisted of a lion passant and was first used about 1545 as a guarantee of the standard of quality. The mark ol the hall as far as London was concerned was a leopard’s head which, prior to 1882, bore a crown but since then had been without the crown. The date mark consisted of a letter of the alphabet and a different letter was used to represent each year, the style of the script being altered each time a new cycle of letters was required. London was not the only British assay office in existence, and for the other halls the mark in place of the leopard’s head was for Birmingham an anchor, for Sheffield a crown, for Chester three wheat sheaves and a sword, for Edinburgh a castle and for Glasgow a bird, a bell and a fish. Mr Wilson described other differences that occurred in th-j marks according to the cities at which they were assayed and affixed. The absence of the lion passant did not mean that the ware was not up to standard. The marks for gold ware differed from those for silverware in a number of ways, said Mr Wilson. The hall mark, maker’s mark and date mark were the same as for silver, but the quality was indicated in figures which indicated the number of carats. A carat was one twenty-fourth and 22 carats or eleven-twelfths was the highest quality that was used. Again the marks varied according to the “halls” in which the work was tested for its quality and for its metal content. In addition many other countries had their own hallmarks, some of the testing being done with a view to producing revenue but most of it being done at a cheap rate. In England the cost to the public for each hallmark was one farthing, a remarkably small sum to pay for protection against fraudulent articles being sold as genuine gold or silverware. Before any article was stamped it was tested thoroughly. The art of the assayer was of great antiquity and went back thousands of years, different methods of testing in the various ages being outlined. All of them proved the quality of the ware submitted for test and made certain that the public should not be misled in the quality of the war for sale. The hieroglyphics were small and almost insignificant on the articles made, but they were of great significance as a certificate of excellence and of high standard.