Chats on Old Silver

APPENDIX
TO
CHAPTER I

The following Tables are intended to be of practical use to the student of Old Silver, and they are arranged in a convenient form for reference.

I.	Tables showing Date Letters used at the London Assay Office from 1598 to 1835 (pages 351-355).
II.	Table showing Differences of Shields in Hall Marks, Standard Marks, and Date Marks of London Assay Office, from the Accession of Queen Elizabeth to the present day (page 357).
III.	Series of Examples showing Types of Marks found on authentic specimens of Old Silver assayed in London during the above period (pages 359-385).
IV.	Series of Examples from Silver assayed at Exeter, Chester, Norwich, York, Newcastle, Birmingham, and Sheffield (pages 387-399).
	Scottish and Irish Marks are also given (pages 401-409).

---

I

TABLES SHOWING
DATE LETTERS

Used at London Assay Office.
1598-1835

II

TABLE SHOWING
DIFFERENCES IN SHIELDS

In London Hall Marks,
Standard Marks and Date Marks,
From Elizabeth to George V

---

TABLE of London Assay Office Annual Date Letters.

The shape of the shields used is shown in Table II.

TABLE of London Assay Office Annual Date Letters.

The shape of the shields used is shown in Table II.

TABLE of London Assay Office Annual Date Letters.

The shape of the shields used is shown in Table II.

---

II

TABLE showing DIFFERENCES IN SHIELDS in London Hall-Marks, Standard Marks, and Date Marks from Queen Elizabeth to George V.

---

III

EXAMPLES SHOWING
TYPES OF MARKS[7]

Found on Authentic Specimens
Of Old Silver Assayed in London
From the Reign of Elizabeth
To the Present Day

---

III

LONDON MARKS

1558 to 1577

(Twenty letters are used, omitting J.)

The earlier letters of this alphabet were impressed with a stamp following the outline of the shape of the letter. Later a shield was used. The type of this date letter is Black Letter Small. Similar type was used from 1678 to 1696, and the shields are the same shape. This type was again used in the reign of Victoria from 1856 to 1875, but the shield is different.

1578 to 1597

(Twenty letters are used, omitting J; and the U is of the same form as the V, which was followed in succeeding alphabets till the year 1735.)

Roman Capital Letters are used at this period. The lion and leopard’s head are in a stamp following the outline, a practice which continued till 1678. From 1716 to 1735, in the reign of George I, a similar alphabet was used with shields of the same shape; but the first four years have the figure of Britannia and lion’s head erased, the Higher Standard Mark. In 1720 the lion and leopard’s head with a new shape of shield clearly indicate the difference.

1598 to 1617

Lombardic Capitals are used in this alphabet. The peculiarities in this series are the letter A with its crossbar (1598), the letter C (1600), which is a D reversed, and the letter G (1604).

1618 to 1637

The letters used are Small Italic. The shields are slightly longer and pointed at bottom. The noticeable letters puzzling to beginners are b (1619), similar to h (1625), l (1628), and s (1635). The l (1628) is similar to the s (1753).

LONDON MARKS

LONDON MARKS

THE COURT HAND ALPHABET

1638 to 1657

CHARLES I. AND COMMONWEALTH

The next alphabet used at the London Assay Office for annual date letters is of a peculiar type known as the Court Hand. Most of the letters are of a character which has not survived in modern usage and they are of a form dissimilar to any other. This Court Hand was employed from the year 1638 to 1657, that is during the latter half of the reign of Charles I and during the Commonwealth up to 1657.

This series of characters was again used from 1696 to 1715, that is to say during six years of the reign of William III, the whole of the reign of Queen Anne, and for the first two years of George I.

Two very important periods are thus covered by these two Court Hand alphabets. It should not be difficult to avoid confusing the one period with the other, as there are other factors which determine which is the latter series. The leopard’s head and the lion are, from 1697 to 1720, replaced by the figure of Britannia and the lion’s head erased.

The illustration of both series of Court Hand letters on pages 351 and 353 will enable readers to identify them more readily.

The examples illustrated on page 365 are, in conjunction with the maker’s mark, the leopard’s head, and the lion passant, for the period 1638 to 1657.

A comparison may be made with the later Court Hand characters, where examples will be found illustrated on page 373.

1638 to 1657

Among the difficulties presented by this Court Hand, the following letters are likely to give trouble in identification owing to their similarity in shape, which becomes more pronounced when the letters are worn and the details slightly obliterated. The a (1638) may be mistaken for the i (1646); the b (1639) is not unlike the letter h (1645); and the k (1647) resembles the letter b (1639), which with its peculiar form, when worn, is only distinguishable by the bar across the centre. A worn letter d (1641) is apt to resemble an s (1655).

In examining the letters under a glass, care should be taken to see that they are not upside down, as in some instances they often resemble others. The shape of the shield is usually clearly enough defined to show the pointed base.

Although these letters are so extremely puzzling, especially to beginners, it should be borne in mind in comparison with the similar Court Hand alphabet which was used later from 1696 to 1715, that the date marks are only confirmatory. In the later series there is the difference in the omission of the lion passant and the leopard’s head, replaced by the figure of Britannia and the lion’s head erased. But the character of the silver itself tells its own story in cases where date marks and standard marks happen to be wholly obliterated. A piece of Queen Anne plate differs so essentially in style from a piece of Charles I or Cromwellian that it should be impossible to fall into any error in mistaking the one for the other.

LONDON MARKS

LONDON MARKS

1658 to 1696

CHARLES II, JAMES II, WILLIAM AND MARY

This period covers the late Stuart silver—Charles II, James II, and the major portion of the reign of William III.

The period represents a renaissance in the styles, and there is a noticeable rejuvenance in the specimens still preserved. For example, see candlesticks illustrated (page 227).

But it must be remembered that during the Charles I period in the days of the Civil War much of the silver was melted down to enable the king to use it in striking the coins of the realm.

Similarly in the reign of William III the old silver was called in by the Royal Mint to be melted down to convert into coin of the realm, for reasons which we have explained elsewhere. On account of the depredations of the coin-clippers much of the fine old silver of the reigns of Charles II and James II was destroyed. In consequence, the silver of the reigns of Charles I, Charles II, and James II is of considerable rarity.

With the opening of the eighteenth century, or, to be exact, from 1697 to 1720, the Higher Standard was obligatory, and with this departure, and the fashions of Queen Anne, a new period of silver is entered. Collectors are divided into schools according to their predilections. To one, nothing later than Elizabeth offers any interest. To another, early Stuart silver affords charms which no later period can supplant. Again, to others the Queen Anne period is the be-all and end-all of their ambitions in collecting.

1658 to 1677

In this alphabet the peculiarities are the letters C (1660) and E (1662), which are only distinguishable from each other by the cross-bar to the letter E. The letter G is an exceptional form (1664), and is shown on the opposite page. O (1671) is also an unusual form. Letters T (1676) and L (1668) are somewhat similar in form, and may easily be mistaken for each other in worn examples.

The letter H (1665) is illustrated as the mark on a wine-cup (page 129).

1678 to 1696

In the year 1679 an oblong shield was used for the lion, as shown on page 357. This mark is taken from the Sumner Salt in the Mercers’ Company Hall, illustrated page 155. The letter E is found on a Snuffers and Tray, illustrated page 231, and the letter F on a Porringer (1683), illustrated page 205. The letter H (1685) is shown on the opposite page.

In regard to this alphabet great changes were in the air (see Higher Standard Mark, pages 49-59), and this alphabet comes to an end with the letter t, and no later date letter than t was employed. But from March to May in 1697 the letter a of the Court Hand alphabet was used, and from May 1697 to May 1698 the Court Hand letter b was used (see succeeding alphabet).

This is the only occasion when the London Assay Office departed from the regular employment of twenty letters, from A to U, excluding the letter J.

LONDON MARKS

Other Marks illustrated are 1665 (p. 129), 1669 (p. 197), 1682 (p. 231), 1683 (p. 205).

LONDON MARKS

1697 to 1715

WILLIAM III (1697-1702), QUEEN ANNE (1702-1714)

During this period there were some important Acts of Parliament which relate to Silver Plate and determine certain changes which are interesting to collectors.

In 1696-7, by 8 and 9 William III, cap. 8, the standard of silver plate was raised higher than that of the coinage, to stop the practice of melting down the coin of the realm and converting it into plate. From the 25th of March, 1697, the new standard became compulsory, and any silver plate made less than ·959, that is, 959 parts of pure silver in every thousand, was illegal. The marks of the maker were to be the first two letters of his surname, and the lion passant and the leopard’s head were to be discontinued. The new standard silver was to be stamped with the figure of Britannia in place of the former mark, and the lion’s head erased in place of the latter.

In 1700, under 12 William III, cap. 4, Chester, York, Exeter, Bristol, and Norwich were reappointed Assay Towns with the right to stamp silver.

It was enacted that the new standard should be observed; that the maker’s mark, the variable date letter (“Roman”), the arms of the city, the lion’s head erased, and the figure of Britannia be stamped on the silver.

In 1702, 1 Anne, cap. 3, a similar power was conferred on Newcastle-on-Tyne.

1697 to 1715

This alphabet presents a difficulty at the outset. The letter a was only used from March to May 1697, and from thence to May 1698 the letter b was used. An example is illustrated on page 217 of this latter period. The maker, John Bodington, signs the first two letters of his surname below a bishop’s mitre.

The letter c is illustrated from a mark on a cupping-bowl, 1698, and should be compared—as should all the letters in this Court Hand alphabet—with the letter c (1640) in the series 1638 to 1657.

The letter c (1698) and q (1711) are shown opposite. The maker’s initials, Ke, stand for William Keith.

The letter d (1699) is given elsewhere (page 353).

The letter f (1701) is the mark on a sugar-caster illustrated (page 269). The maker, Christopher Canner, stamps the first two letters of his surname.

The letter i (1704) is unlike any modern i, and is from a Monteith illustrated (page 135). The maker, Louis Mettayer, uses the first two letters of his surname.

The letter k (1705) is equally unfamiliar. It is from a teapot and stand. The maker, Simon Pantin, signs the first letters of his Christian and surnames. In 1739 this was made compulsory by statute.

The letter r (1712) is shown on a caster illustrated (page 269).

All the marks on opposite page denote the Higher Standard—figure of Britannia and lion’s head erased.

LONDON MARKS

The Higher Standard (1697-1720)

Other Marks illustrated are 1697 (p. 217), 1701 (p. 269), 1704 (p. 135), 1712 (p. 269).

LONDON MARKS

1716 to 1778

GEORGE I, GEORGE II, and GEORGE III (the first quarter of his reign).

In the sixth year of the reign of George I, in 1720, the old silver standard was revived. After 1720 the figure of Britannia and the lion’s head erased disappear from silver. In 1721 the leopard’s head and the lion passant reappear as hall and standard marks, and from this date the provincial offices again took up the assaying of silver.

In 1721 the leopard’s head was in a square shield, as shown on page 357.

In 1722 and 1723 the leopard’s head was in a circular shield. In 1724 and 1725 the shield for the leopard’s head was in an escutcheon with a rounded base (see illustration, page 357). From 1726 to 1728 the leopard’s head again is in a circular shield, and this and the previous years, 1722 and 1723, are the only occasions when the circular shield was used.

The shapes of the shields of the lion passant during this time are shown in the Table (page 357).

From 1729 to 1738 the leopard’s head is in a shield with a pointed base, and the lion is in an oblong shield.

From 1739 to 1755 the lion is in a shield which is irregular in shape following the outline. The leopard’s head from 1739 to 1750 is in a shield of elaborate shape, and the whiskers of the leopard are clearly marked in the stamp. From 1751 to 1755 the shield for the leopard’s head changes. These differences can be seen in the Table (page 357).

From 1756 to 1775 the leopard’s head has another shield. The lion from 1756 to 1895 (139 years) retains the same shaped shield.

1716 to 1735

The example given on the opposite page for the year 1717 belongs to the Higher Standard period.

The mark for 1722 is from a tea-caddy made by Bowles Nash, whose mark is a B with a star.

1736 to 1755

The example given on the opposite page for the year 1753 shows the date letter s, and is noticeable as likely to be confused with the letter f 1741.

1756 to 1775

The mark for 1761 on a cake-basket with the maker’s mark, E.R. (Edward Romer) is illustrated (page 291). It will be observed that from this date the initial letters of Christian and surname of makers were now used. This was compulsory in 1739 by 12 of George II cap. 26.

For the year 1773 a sugar-bowl is illustrated (page 283). The marks are given on the opposite page. The makers were S. and J. Crespell.

LONDON MARKS

Other Marks illustrated are 1746 (p. 251), 1761 (p. 291).

LONDON MARKS

1776 to 1835

GEORGE III, GEORGE IV (1820-30), WILLIAM IV

The most important feature in regard to marks in this period is the addition of the reigning sovereign’s head, which commenced in 1784. This Duty Mark was continued throughout the reigns of George III, George IV, William IV, and during the reign of Victoria until 1890, when the mark of the sovereign’s head was discontinued on the abolition of the duty on silver.

In regard to the collection of silver, it must be admitted that this period embraces decadent styles. The delicacy of the Stuart period with its refinement and grace, and the subsequent reticence of the Queen Anne and early Georgian styles, with their sober though essentially national character, was submerged in the first half of the nineteenth century in the Victorian era. There is an absence of originality and a feeling of dull, insipid, or overloaded ornament in most of the work of this period.

Practically with this period, from a collector’s point of view, the subject comes to an end. But there are bright spots now and again visible. There is the classic influence due to the same artistic impulse which directed Wedgwood and the Brothers Adam; but this only extended into the early years of the nineteenth century. The First Empire style came and went in furniture and silver, and only fitfully does it appear in design later than 1830.

1776 to 1795

In this period the most noticeable difference in the marks is the addition of the head of George III, in 1784, when the Duty Act was passed (24 George III).

1796 to 1815

Three examples are given from this period, 1798, 1808, and 1810; the last set of marks is taken from a silver-gilt salt with Pompeian style of ornament made by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. This is illustrated on page 173.

1816 to 1835

In 1821 the head of George IV replaced that of his father, and from 1831 to 1836 the head of William IV was stamped as a Duty Mark.

In 1821 the leopard’s head lost its crown, and has so remained since that date. The lion at the same time had the head fuller and in profile, in which style it has continued till the present day.

LONDON MARKS

LONDON MARKS

1836 to 1915

VICTORIA (1837-1901), EDWARD VII (1901-10), GEORGE V

From a collecting point of view there is not much in this last period to invite comparison either in beauty or originality with the best periods of old silver.

In order to complete the series of examples herein given a selection of marks has been made covering this period, so that the reader may recognize modern marks, especially when the design of the piece has been copied from some old specimen.

The period is important in embracing several protective measures designed to safeguard the public interests and to bring the assay offices under stricter supervision. The Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Hall-Marking of Gold and Silver Plate, etc., which was issued in 1879, should be carefully studied by those students who wish to master the complexities of hall-marking.

In 1876 it was enacted (39 and 40 Vict. cap. 35) that all foreign plate, before its sale in England, should be assayed here and bear the letter F in an oval escutcheon. Amended by 4 Edward VII, cap. 6, 1904.

In regard to forgery of silver plate there is ample provision to bring the offenders to book. By Vict. 7 and 8, cap. 22, sections 5 and 6, penalties are provided for those altering and adding to plate, and possessing, selling, or exporting such plate without fresh assay; a fine of £10 can be imposed for each article so found in a person’s possession without lawful excuse.

1836 to 1855

From 1837 the head of Queen Victoria appears as a Duty Mark, and till 1875 the leopard’s head, still uncrowned, is of a different form (see Table, page 357).

1856 to 1875

In this period the shape of the shield for the date letter, which had remained the same since 1756, was now for the last time used. Its new shape is shown in the following period.

1876 to 1895

The shape of the date shield was changed with the letter B in 1877. In 1876, with the letter A, the shield of the leopard’s head was changed, and the face became more feline with whiskers (see Table, page 357). In 1876 another new mark was added, the letter F, in an oval escutcheon, which was compulsory by law to be stamped on all foreign silver assayed at any office in the United Kingdom.

In 1890 the sovereign’s head disappears, as the duty on silver was then abolished.

1896 to 1915

In this last period of all it will be observed that the shields of the date letter and the leopard’s head both change their shapes, and have three lobes.

LONDON MARKS

---

IV

EXAMPLES OF
PROVINCIAL
MARKS

EXETER
CHESTER
NORWICH
YORK
NEWCASTLE
BIRMINGHAM
SHEFFIELD

---

PROVINCIAL MARKS

EXETER

Although the records show that Exeter was among the Assay Offices appointed in 1700 by 12 and 13 William, cap. 3 and 4, it is evident that silver was assayed here by the city guild of goldsmiths, as some of the marks found on old silver, indubitably of Exeter origin, belong to the sixteenth century.

We are enabled, by the kindness of Mr. J. H. Ellett Lake of Exeter, to give a very representative selection of Exeter marks, and, in addition, to give illustrations of the pieces themselves in this volume.

It will be seen that the earlier marks date from 1572, and the X surmounted by a crown was the city or hall-mark up to a period as late as 1640. In the early eighteenth century, subsequent to the Act of William III, the hall-mark becomes a castle with the shield divided by a vertical line.

In 1773 a Report was made by a Committee of the House of Commons, who held an inquiry and took evidence as to the manner of conducting the Assay Offices in London, York, Exeter, Bristol, Chester, Norwich, and Newcastle. The Assay Master at Exeter, in describing the method employed at his office, stated that the hall-mark was a castle, and the date letter for 1772 was Z, in Roman character, and that A was to be the letter for the next year, and that the whole alphabet was gone through.

But J, apparently, was never used at Exeter, and in later alphabets no letter after U was used, e.g. A to U (1797 to 1816), etc.

EXETER MARKS

It is not possible in a volume of this size to give all the date letters of provincial offices, but the following may be of use as indicating the letters used at Exeter:—

In regard to the marks illustrated on opposite page it will be seen that the Higher Standard Mark was used at Exeter after 1701. Examples are shown, 1706 and 1714. Collectors have sometimes stumbled into the belief that no silver was allowed by law to be assayed at any other office than London during the period 1697 to 1720. But it is only between 1697 and 1701 that the provincial offices were practically closed. From 1701 till 1720 such offices did assay and mark silver plate with the figure of Britannia, and the lion’s head erased.

EXETER MARKS

Other Exeter Marks illustrated are 1705 (p. 115), 1707 (p. 209), 1728 (p. 273), 1729 (p. 81), 1733 (p. 117).

PROVINCIAL MARKS

CHESTER, NORWICH, AND YORK

The old cathedral cities were the centres of art, therefore it is not surprising to find assay offices established there from the earliest times. Besides Exeter, which we have considered, there were assay offices at Chester, Norwich, and York. It is remarkable that no assay office appears to have existed at Canterbury, nor at Salisbury, nor at Winchester.

Chester has a long history in connexion with the coinage and with assaying silver. In the sixteenth century there is a record of the assay of silver there, and Charles I struck some of his silver coinage there in 1645 with the mint mark of the three wheatsheaves of the city.

Norwich was mentioned as one of the assay towns in 2 Hen. VI, cap. 17, in 1423, which honour it shares with York and Newcastle as being of such ancient lineage. The corporation of Norwich possesses several pieces of plate of the Elizabethan period, with the city arms, a lion, and a castle as a hall-mark. A Tudor rose with a crown above is the standard mark. The office ceased early in the eighteenth century.

York is another office which is now extinct. At the end of the eighteenth century it was not mentioned among the other assay offices, but in the middle of the nineteenth century it had recommenced but did little business, and no plate seems to have been assayed there since about 1870.

The Chester hall-mark down to 1697 is the city arms, viz. a dagger erect between three sheaves of wheat. In 1701 the mark became three demi-lions with wheatsheaves, when Chester was reappointed as one of the assay offices in the reign of William III. The shield was again changed after 1775 to the older form with the dagger which is still in use at the Chester assay office.

We give on the opposite page an example of the mark in 1775, with the three demi-lions superimposed on the shield with the three wheatsheaves. The later mark, of the year 1800, shows the dagger with the wheatsheaves. It will be observed that these marks have the leopard’s head and the lion passant, the hall-mark and the standard-mark of the London office.

The present marks used at the Chester Assay Office, together with the maker’s initials, are the lion passant, the City arms, and the date letter. The letters now in use are Italic capitals commencing with A in 1901. The letter for 1915 is P.

An example is given of Norwich marks stamped on a tall wine-cup, about 1620, of the James I period. The castle and lion is the hall-mark. A Tudor rose surmounted by a crown is also found on Norwich silver as the standard mark. The mark of the orb and cross given opposite is the mark of Peter Peterson the maker.

The York mark prior to 1700 is of a peculiar composite character. It is now held to represent half leopard’s head and half fleur-de-lis conjoined. The example shown is on a flagon in the possession of the Corporation of York, and was made by Marmaduke Best, whose initials are stamped; the letter R is the date letter for 1674. The other example, about 1800, shows the hall-mark with the St. George’s cross and the five diminutive lions. The date-mark was obliterated on this specimen. The maker’s mark is N.G. The duty mark was too worn to reproduce. It will be noticed, as at Chester, the leopard’s head and lion passant are included in the marks.

CHESTER

NORWICH

YORK

PROVINCIAL MARKS

Newcastle-on-Tyne (1702-1884)

Birmingham, Sheffield (1773 to present day)

Newcastle is cited in the Acts of 1423 and 1462 as one of the cities appointed to assay silver. By the Act relating to the Higher Standard, and making it illegal to assay silver elsewhere than London, there is a hiatus after 1696. But the provincial assay offices did not long remain compulsorily idle. They petitioned the House of Commons, and obtained redress. In 1702, 1 Anne, cap. 3 was specially applicable to Newcastle-on-Tyne, and this Act reappointed the town for assaying silver, and it is there on record that “there is, and time out of mind hath been, an ancient Company of Goldsmiths, which, with their families, by the said penalty are like to be ruined, and the trade utterly lost in the said town.”

The Newcastle date letters are as follows:[8]—

The complete Newcastle marks are the Lion passant, the Leopard’s Head, the Town or Hall Mark of Three Castles, the Date Letter, the Maker’s Mark, and the Duty Mark of the Sovereign’s Head (till 1890).

Birmingham and Sheffield were both granted the rights to assay silver in 1773 by 13 Geo. III, cap. 52.

The Birmingham marks are an Anchor, a Lion passant, a Date Letter, and the Maker’s Mark, and the Duty Mark till it was abolished in 1890.

The date alphabets for Birmingham[9] are:—

The Office Year begins 1st July and ends 30th June.

The Sheffield[9] marks are the Lion passant, a Crown, the Date Letter, the Maker’s Mark, and the Sovereign’s Head as the Duty Mark till abolished in 1890.

From 1773 to 1823 the date letters were taken at random. From 1824 to the present day they run in regular order from A to Z.

On small pieces of silver the crown and date letter are on one punch.

The alphabets for Sheffield are:—

The Newcastle marks, 1737, are drawn from a coffee-pot (illustrated page 243). The Date Letter is in old English capital type.

The Birmingham marks (reproduced opposite) are in date 1804 and 1889. It will be seen that the Duty Mark of Sovereign’s Head is in a broken oval shield.

The Sheffield marks are from candlesticks, that of 1773 being made by Samuel Roberts & Co.

NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE

BIRMINGHAM

SHEFFIELD

---